And the Darkness shall not Overcome It
by idratherfollowthebutterflies
Summary: Amberlynn Sommers was more than content spending her time as a summer spirit without getting sucked into the drama brought on between the Guardians and Pitch, thank you very much! But after a chance encounter she had with him, the Guardians are shocked to find her spending so much time with their worst enemy...but is he really? Pitch x OC. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, ye'll no be spending any time indoors if I can help it!" Amberlynn Sommers called out to a group of teenagers getting ready to pack up and leave Atlantic City. Not that they actually _could_ hear her, mind you. Nobody ever heard her, or saw her, for that matter. But it didn't matter. It would merely have been a distraction to have even _one_ believer on that beach while she worked, let alone if everyone did.

As the summer spirit flew down to the epicenter of the hopefully-soon-to-be-crowded (if she gets any say in it) beach, an unusually cold wind for the month of July blew harshly from the northeast. Feeling the tiny little goosebumps rise against Amberlynn's pale, freckled skin, she fought the instinct to warm herself and press on with the job. _Even with the stupid parka over all these layers of clothes, it's still too bloody cold out here. Curse that Frost, wait'll I get my hands on'em!_

"Do ye mind calming down the winds just a bit, Mother Nature? I've a bloody…oh what's the word fer swydd… _job_ ye assigned me to, ye know!" Amberlynn shouted into the seeming nothingness, although she knew better than to doubt whether her message was received. While the slight chill was still present at the beach—ergo the main reason so many humans were packing up to leave—the winds had died down enough for her satisfaction.

Amberlynn knelt near a small, deserted mound of sand. Carefully wrapping her wavy, hip-length, fiery red hair around her right arm, she placed her right hand—which held the excess hair—on top of the sand mound and closed her eyes. Keeping in time with the steady rate of her heart, her internal temperature steadily increased as heat emitted from her hair and pulsed into the sand. Soon (though not so soon that mere mortals would grow concerned) the temperature of the beach began to increase, starting from the sand and working its way up.

Though she refused to stop until the beach was at a temperature she was happy with, her lips turned upward into a small smile when one of the teens she saw earlier say to her friends over the phone, "I'm telling you guys, you all should come back to the shore! It's actually really warm out here now, I might even jump in for a swim." All around her, she either heard similar conversations or more people returning to the beach with their luggage clanking behind, many of them looking in hope to find the spot they previously had before someone else takes it.

Before long, the beach was filled with people swimming, sunbathing, and playing volleyball. Amberlynn looked around at the scene before her and sighed in satisfaction. Her contentedness came to a quick halt when two children ran right through her.

"Coc y gath!" Amberlynn yelled, flying up in the air as quickly as she could before someone else ran through her. "I warm up the entire beach for ye lot and this is the thanks I get? Ye lousy pobl ddiolchgar!" In a huff, she flew away from the beach on the hunt for her next destination.

The summer spirit doesn't mind mortals, honestly. After all, it's not their fault she's a minor spirit under the direction of Mother Nature. And she truly couldn't care less if she was seen or not by them. It's the freezing cold feeling at the pit of her stomach that forms after being run or walked right through that makes her redheaded temper flare.

After fleeing the scene of her success, Amberlynn glided through the air at a slightly quicker-than-leisurely pace on the hunt for one of her favorite places to relax after an assignment: Death Valley. Almost nothing rejuvenates her faster after spending time in a cold environment than resting in the hottest place on Earth. _No work, no Jack Frost, is there any more a spirit could ask for?_

While she gets along fine enough with the other Guardians, it was no secret that she and Frost didn't exactly see eye to eye on everything. She supposed they would get along better if Jack didn't freeze _everything_ she tried to keep warm and alive. Honestly, he was like an annoying little brother getting in her way every single step. That, and now that he's been chosen by Manny, it's like he gets special privileges to automatically ignore Mother Nature's direct orders to remain neutral in any squabble the Guardians have with anyone or anything.

Toothiana was friendly enough, although her high-pitched, squeaky voice and fast tongue that resembles chirping more so than actual speech tends to get old pretty quickly. It's truly for the better that Tooth spends most of her time up in the palace, anyway.

She liked Sandy well enough, for the brief encounters they've had. While Sandman does his work at night for obvious reasons, Amberlynn is more diurnal in nature and they seldom cross paths except to acknowledge each other before heading off to do an assignment or to get rest after a long day's (or night's) worth of work.

Amberlynn has never met North, although she's not entirely sure that she'd want to. While he sounds like a fine spirit, she's not sure she could deal with such a loud, boisterous, spirit that doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "no." After all, Jack Frost hated the idea of being a Guardian almost as much as Amberlynn and if _he_ was converted over? Well, who can say what runs through that teenager's mind?

Bunnymund, however, was definitely her favorite. Though he seldom leaves his Warren except for official Guardian business and Easter to help distribute some eggs, he finds her love and respect for flora (and _not_ freezing everything to the ground) as well as her appreciation for the Easter season to be a refreshing change of pace compared to dealing with both North and Frost. They don't really say much to each other, either, when in passing, but that's what makes their relationship work. Both their hotheaded tempers and mutual love and respect for all things warm (and alive) are enough for them to establish a friendship.

Bunnymund was also a great help to the young summer spirit for the uglier side of her job. The downside to her being the summer spirit is where her source of heat comes from: fire. While she is more than in control of her power and has never accidentally burned anything, the first time Mother Nature ordered her to use her power other than to provide warmth just about destroyed her.

 _"_ _I trust you know how to produce fire?" Mother Nature asked sarcastically. Slightly offended, the barely-5-year-old spirit scoffed in indignation and replied, "Of course I can make fire! How else am I supposed to see at night and keep warm?" As if to prove her point, she balled up her hand into a fist as tightly as she could before immediately opening it back up, holding a ball of fire in her hand roughly the size of a softball, nothing too fancy but enough to show Mother Nature she had control of her powers._

 _"_ _Excellent, Sommers. Now use it on the eucalyptus tree just over there." Upon seeing where she pointed, Amberlynn noticed the dead, poor excuse of vegetation which was truthfully better use for kindling by this point._

 _The summer spirit protested, "But Mother Nature! If that tree gets so much as a single spark against it, this entire forest will go up in flames!" The elder spirit gave time for that fact to sink in with her youngest nature spirit. Amberlynn's charcoal grey eyes grew wide and became a little misty as she tried pleading with her._

 _"_ _Please don't make me do this! Surely I can be of use somewhere else! Maybe a polar ice cap needs melting or something. Please don't let me set this forest on fire." Mother Nature sighed and crossed her long slender arms across her chest, as patience was not one of her strong suits._

 _"_ _You will complete this task before the sun reaches high noon, and that is my final word on the subject." Without further ado, Mother Nature vanished, leaving Amberlynn starting at where she in her long, forest green dress once was, to do exactly what she was ordered._

 _A few hours after the forest had become nothing but ash, Amberlynn still remained seated in the middle of what once was a grand cluster of trees of all shapes and sizes, with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees while she tried to fathom what she had done. She heard footsteps from someone approaching behind her. Probably just some mortal finally realizing the damage I've done she thought to herself. Wait, not footsteps, but, hops?_

 _"_ _Oi, what is this I come home to?" E. Aster Bunnymund asked. While the young spirit knew of the Easter Bunny, she had only spoken to him a few times in passing but never knew much about him. Mother Nature made me destroy the Easter Bunny's home?! She quickly stood up and dusted the ash off her dress as she stammered, "Bunny! I—I had no idea ye lived, I mean I'm sorry that Mother Nature—er, that I…oh blimey what's the use? I didn't know I destroyed yer home. Truthfully, I was merely following orders but I had no idea what the cost would be. What can I do to make it up to ye?"_

 _"_ _Destroyed my home? You think that I? Oi, that was a rich one sheila!" Bunnymund chuckled. When he saw she didn't understand, he cleared his throat and explained, "The Warren is but a good several kilometers underground…Amberlynn, right? Well, anyway sheila, you didn't destroy my home. I've been bugging Mother Nature that she remove those bloody awful trees for decades! Every time I tried settin' fire to it myself, she'd just send a torrential downpour on the whole bloody lot!"_

 _"_ _Wait, you mean you wanted this to happen?" If Amberlynn wasn't confused then, she was more than ever by this point._

 _"_ _Oh that's right, you've not roamed the Earth long enough to know this beauty for what it once was. You see, sheila, when I first took the Warren as my home here, this place was a beauty of a meadow if I ever saw one! Unfortunately, as time went on, trees began growing in the meadow and quickly overshadowed—literally—the poor flora that once covered this land and became a forest. I've been trying to get those trees down to repurpose this land to what it once was."_

 _Wiping away a pesky tear that had formed in her reddened eyes (I thought I was done crying), she asked incredulously, "You mean to tell me I actually did a good thing? That Mother Nature didn't just make me burn this whole forest down for nothing?"_

 _"_ _While I don't care for Mother Nature's personality or her means of achieving what she wants, mate," Bunny admitted bluntly, "I can't deny that she eventually gets what needs to be done for the flora and fauna on this planet. Even in spite of what humans try to do to it."_

 ** _*_** **Author's note: While my dear Amberlynn is indeed of Welsh origin, I sadly am not and I apologize for any current or future words/phrases that may have been used incorrectly or in the wrong context. For those who do not speak Welsh, such as myself, here are the phrases and their English translations (more or less)**

 _ **Coc y gath:**_ ** _(literal translation: the cat's willy)_** **a phrase to express shock, dismay, anger**

 _ **Pobl ddiolchgar:**_ **ungrateful people**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Sorry about the delay! I've been pretty busy with school. But I'll try to consistently publish a new chapter once a week ^_^ I do not own ROTG, just my OC**

Amberlynn sat contentedly in the same meadow she helped Bunny restore, lying down underneath a single eucalyptus tree. While Amberlynn has helped Bunny keep the meadow from once again becoming a forest by burning away any saplings they encounter early on, he insisted they let one tree grow for her to use as shelter for any time she has future assignments in Australia. _I know Mother Nature said to do this tomorrow,_ she thought, _but I'm beat…and freezing! Let the Aussies have a heat wave tonight!_

No sooner did the summer spirit get settled in at the base of the trunk—in the middle of providing a small portion of the region satisfactory warmth—than did she hear the faintest sound of footprints. An intruder was here, but not just any intruder. Even without turning her head she recognized the King of Nightmares himself.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," she muttered loudly enough to be heard. Though she still remained focused on the task at hand, she heard him stop in his tracks and humorlessly chuckle.

"So much for the seasonal spirits remaining a neutral party," Pitch Black sighed in mock disappointment. "Are you here to start another raging fire across the outback, Amberlynn Sommers? Oh, my dear fearlings _loved_ how long the memories haunted you all those years ago! Please, don't let me stand in your way."

"Bite me, Black!" she snapped, whipping her head in his direction. Realizing she wasn't about to warm up the area to her liking any time soon, she stood up off the ground as she taunted, "I hope yer precious fearlings enjoyed getting their fill of fears from what doesn't come even _remotely close_ to scaring me anymore. Although, fat lot of good it did yer sorry arse. Last time I checked, you took a _royal_ beating from the Guardians fairly recently, did you not? What a pity! And after all that hard work you did to ensure…"

Pitch sent a shadow to forcefully shove her back against the trunk of the tree, momentarily knocking the wind out of her. Keeping her restrained, he placed his hands against the trunk on either side of her, his long, gray face mere inches away from her pale, freckled, pointed one. His eyes, which were normally silver with hints of gold speckled across them, went completely silver as he hissed, "Let us be clear about one thing, Sommers. Anyone who allies themselves with the Guardians becomes an immediate enemy of mine, _especially_ when they have no reason to put themselves in the middle of a fight that remains between us. Now—while I admit it has been a bit…time-consuming to defeat all the Guardians at once, _especially_ since Frost joined—you, my dear, are no Guardian."

As if on cue, she could see nightmares and fearlings slowly approaching from behind. They all stood in a semicircle around the tree, awaiting orders from Pitch. He continued, "I could send my wonderful creations upon you immediately and completely envelop you in the darkness should you be so foolish as to cross me. Is that what you really want?"

Nothing. Not a single hint of fear radiated from Amberlynn Sommers. If that concerned or worried Pitch, he didn't show it. She grinned a wide, devilish smirk as she asked, "If you're done monologuing, may I have a word now?"

Not hiding his amusement, he chuckled and replied, "By all means, milady. What could you possibly know to make you so cocky in this present state."

"Well, for starters," she explained, "Yer flaw in this attempt at intimidation. Ye forget that though I am indeed a summer spirit, I can literally create fire out of thin air. And do you know what else fire can be used for besides warmth?" She emitted just small enough of a flame to dissipate the shadows that bound her and teased, "Just call me yer little light in the darkness."

With a simple toss behind her head, she threw a ball of fire in the direction of a charging fearling, disintegrating it upon touch. "And the darkness has not overcome it."

Within milliseconds, the Nightmare King has finally processed what just happened, and summoned his scythe in action. Spirit against spirit plus fearlings plus nightmares. Even counting there to be fewer than 10 total, something about this just didn't quite seem fair to Amberlynn. _I should really have evened the odds for him and tied one hand behind my back._ One by one, while dodging Pitch's swings, she shot his creatures.

After another shot, she shouted, "This one's for trying to hurt Bunny." Another. "That was for attacking me." And yet another. "This one's for assuming I actually cared about your petty squabble with the Guardians!"

 _Wait, she really was a neutral party?_ Pitch wondered. _If she doesn't care, then why is she—_ after the last of his nightmares was killed, she acrobatically jumped over Pitch, grabbed hold of the scythe mid-air, and burned it in her hand.

"And that," she sighed after the fight. "Was for interrupting my work in the first place to cause trouble. Had you waited for a second like a normal spirit, I would have told you a couple things. First of all, I couldn't care less about what sort of quarrel you have with the Guardians or vice versa. If you lot can't deal with your own personal vendettas without other spirits getting involved, then I think that's more telling of your character, wouldn't you agree? Bunnymund is a good friend of mine, nothing more. Even _he_ learned that if he tries to rope me into anything related to the Guardians or against you…well, I don't take too kindly to being dragged to places—or events for that matter—that I've no business or desire to attend to."

"And what was the second thing you wished to tell me?" Pitch asked. Though he was annoyed by being interrupted during his original mission, he had to admit that Amberlynn made it a much more fun challenge. After all, he wouldn't want things to be _too_ easy. Where's the fun in that?

Thinking about it for a second, Amberlynn remembered and replied, "Oh! I wanted to tell you Bunnymund's not home. Hasn't been for over a week. Out doing some Guardian-who-knows-what, I presume."

 _Looks like somebody screwed up, haven't you, Pitch?_ Both the summer spirit and Nightmare King thought simultaneously: Amberlynn in annoyance (but slightly amused nonetheless) and Pitch in bitterness. Though he never let his poker face slip, he said, "Well, it seems I must be departing now, then. It was quite the honorable, and dare I say, impressive skirmish, Sommers. You are quite the worthy opponent."

"Though not enemy, I'm sure," she replied. "And if you can promise me I won't be seeing your face for a long while, then I won't inform Mother Nature you just attacked one of her own." While she knew many of the elder spirits had great respect for Mother Nature, if Amberlynn didn't know any better, she almost thought she could see Pitch's eye twitch at the mention of her name. Upon his immediate disappearance from the outback, Amberlynn settled herself back into the slight nook at the base of the tree before finishing her task so she could take a long-overdue nap.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we are, chapter 3 is up and running, enjoy! ^_^** **I do not own ROTG, just my OC**

"What are ye doing to my hard work, ye pen bach?" Amberlynn screamed at her natural opposite. She and Jack Frost encountered each other at a park in Brisbane, Australia. The poor mortals were very confused by the drastic difference in weather. Brisbane and most other cities north of it were unusually warm for a winter in early July, while cities south were not only much colder, but some also began to report snowfall.

"I am spreading winter in a country that is _in the middle of winter_ right now!" Jack Frost countered. "By the way, your Welsh is _seriously_ showing again. What is it this time? Is it too cold for you? You know, with not being somewhere that is _your own season_ or are you getting angry that I have the nerve to call you out on it?"

"Ye want Welsh? I'll give ye Welsh," she muttered, teeth clenched from the cold as well as from her annoyance brewing into anger at the winter spirit. "Cer i grafu, drewgi! I'm working directly under Mother Nature's orders. And if she wants a heat wave in winter, that's exactly what I'm going to give her! Ye know, since I still remain loyal to her and not MiM."

"That's not fair and you know it!" he yelled back defensively. Amberlynn stood up straight, her long, straight red hair blowing uncontrollably around her face, and stamped her foot on the ground, demanding, "It is _too_ fair and ye know it! Ye had just _two_ jobs, Jack Frost! Spread winter wherever ye go and don't fall into the politics of the Guardians! How hard was that?

"Oh wait, don't tell me. You're suddenly _so_ special because the moon chose ye? MiM gave ye this gift and Tooth helped ye find who ye once were because she returned your human memories, right? And now because of _one_ battle the Guardians literally dragged you to when they fought Pitch Black, and after ye chose sides in a battle ye _never_ should ha' taken part in, ye suddenly become welcomed by the Guardians and join their little clique? All fer wha? A handful of believers who are quite literally now your lifeline?"

A freezing, sharp pain hit Amberlynn in her left collarbone, knocking her down to the ground. Jack, still gripping his wooden staff in the offense, white hair and blue hoodie whipping around from the violence of the wind, growled, "Don't say another word about what you don't know, Amberlynn Sommers! You weren't there when it happened. You don't know the pain of isolation, separation from any sort of friends or family. Try to hear from the original source rather than relying so much on what you hear from rumors spread by other spirits!"

Before Amberlynn said another word, she removed her parka so that she could move the sleeve of her wool-knit forest green sweater off her shoulder, exposing the site of impact where the ice had hit. Lighting a fire in her right hand, she slapped her hand onto the injured area, forcing the flame into her skin, not only melting away any residual ice, but also bringing up her core body temperature back to a comfortable level. _More primitive, but also highly effective to just set myself on fire rather than internalize the heat_.

"Okay, Jack," Amberlynn began in a voice way too cool and calm to be a genuinely good-natured tone, _especially_ for her. "I have made a decision to give ye an option. Should I singe that pretty little head of yers or make some kindling out of yer fancy old stick?"

The winter spirit gripped his staff in such a tight, defensive position that ice slowly began to form around its cracks and crevices. Both spirits crouched in low, combative stances, ready to fight each other until the wind finally became so violent neither one of them could ignore it.

"Bloody hell," Amberlynn muttered under her breath, "You're in for it now, ye worthless popsicle." Jack shot dagger eyes in her direction and protested, "Oh _I'm_ in for it now? You really should get another look at reality before you—"

"Or maybe you _both_ should stop fighting like the children you think you are and sort this problem out like civilized spirits!" Mother Nature interrupted. Winds still not dying down, her forest green dress and jet-black hair danced with the movement, while her golden eyes burned with rage at having to intervene due to the damage caused by the petty squabble her two youngest spirits were in the middle of.

Almost as if to further prove her point, they both pointed at each other, insisting the other started it. "Honestly, Mother Nature, it's the middle of winter in Australia," Jack piped up. He stepped forward and insisted, "As the winter spirit, it is merely a matter of—"

Mother Nature stared right at him, golden eyes into crystal blue orbs. Her piercing gaze left a heavy pit in the bottom of the winter spirit's stomach. Jack broke the staring contest and dropped his head, saying no more. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath before she says anything else to either of them.

"Where do I even begin with the both of you?" she asked rhetorically. Turning to Jack, she said, "It may be winter in the southern hemisphere, but this is Australia. How many times have I _actually_ sent you on assignment on this island? I suggest you fly yourself out of here so I can undo this mess you've created for me. Those mortals in Sydney are having a _field day_ right now with this chaos."

As Jack immediately flew away, she spun around to face Amberlynn. "And you," she warned, "Need to either do your assignments on the days I actually assign you to do them or stay away from countries that are not in your own season if you desire to go your own way. Now with that being said, some countryside villages near Kazan could use a heat wave right now. You should get started on that."

"But it's the middle of the night in Kazan," Amberlynn objected, "You know I work in the day."

"Oh, I just thought after the job you chose to do _last night_ , you suddenly became a nightly spirit," Mother Nature challenged. Knowing better than to argue with her any longer, Amberlynn replied, "Fair enough. To Russia it is!"

 ***Enjoy some more of Amberlynn's Welsh***

 ** _pen bach_ : Idiot (literal translation: small head)**

 ** _cer i grafu_ : Go away (literal translation: go and scratch)**

 ** _drewgi_ : Someone you don't find agreeable**


	4. Chapter 4

**What's up, everyone? Thank you** ** _so much_** **for your patience with my uploads ^_^ As always, I do not own ROTG, just my OC. Well, enjoy!**

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? An admirer, perhaps?" Pitch Black jeered. He rode astride his favorite nightmare, Onyx, while he spread fear throughout Russia. He had just ridden through one town when he passed right by Amberlynn, who was still trying to raise the temperature of the massive region to her liking. While she could simply do smaller regions at a time, she found that, with focus and practice, she can stretch the perimeter of how far the heat travels. She hasn't done a region of this size in a while, but the farthest she remembers going was warming up Mexico City all the way from Lima, Peru.

Keeping her hair-wrapped arm firmly planted on the ground, she looked up at the Nightmare King and scoffed. "Somebody's feeling awfully cocky tonight, isn't he? What could I have _possibly_ done to bring ye to that conclusion just by standing here? And didn't I just threaten ye the other night to bugger off?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "The way I see it," he replied, "A spirit who has seen me exactly—what, twice—in her nearly 200 years of roaming the earth suddenly stops by within a day after our last encounter?" He hopped off his jet-black nightmare and shooed her away. "And a _diurnal_ spirit, no less, roaming rural Russia in the middle of the night. Aren't you a little lost?"

Pitch knelt down to be at eye level with her. Amberlynn couldn't help but notice his silver eyes were rimmed with gold around the outer edge of his irises. _Weren't they completely grey last I saw them?_ She thought to herself.

Pitch continued, "Now tell me, my dear. What exactly brought you out of your natural environment this time?"

Without missing a beat, she replied, "Apparently some form of penance if Mother Nature knew you'd be here when she sent me off." Seeing his eye twitch ( _now I_ know _I didn't imagine it last night_ ), Amberlynn lightly chuckled. "Truth be told," she admitted, "Frost and I got into a fight over turf and she sent both of us packing. My only regret is that I didn't get a good-sized fireball thrown at him before she intervened."

It didn't escape her sight when Amberlynn saw the King of Nightmares himself curled the corners of his lips into a slight smile. Not a smirk or a condescending smile when he's taunting somebody, but one of genuine amusement.

"You had a fight with Jack Frost?" Pitch asked. While not necessarily impressed, the thought of two seasonal spirits—especially when one of them is Frost—fighting it out did intrigue him. "Can't say that I blame you, the bloody Guardian most likely—"

"I'm going to stop ye there, Black," Amberlynn interjected. "One, while I did get into a heated argument with Jack, it had nothing to do with him being a Guardian, but rather because he's an annoying winter prat who can't keep things warm and alive—in the _middle_ of Australia! I mean come on! It's not tha bloody difficult to—sorry, I digress.

"But two, I'll spare you the details—or lack thereof. Like I said earlier, Mother Nature intervened before things got too out of hand. Which is a real pity because I haven't had a good fight since…well, I guess you and your nightmares did give me a pretty fair fight just the other day, didn't ye?"

Pitch snorted. He didn't remember actually sitting down from his earlier stance (and yet here he was) but shrugged it off and turned to face Amberlynn. "If you're eager to look for another one, I'd be more than happy to have a rematch."

The summer spirit smirked. "As much as I'd love to beat ye again, I'll have to take a rain check until I'm finished up here." Pitch glanced down at the arm her hair was wrapped around to see her fiery red hair glow. The strength of the glow brightened and dimmed at a steady pace, almost like it had a heartbeat of its own. Even her eyes—which Pitch had no clue how he didn't notice it before—glowed on their own accord. They weren't very bright, but the small golden specks within her eyes shone like the dying flames of ember.

Not bothering to hide his curiosity, he asked, "Forgive my asking, but wouldn't you have finished with Moscow by now?"

Amberlynn shrugged and replied, "Normally I would be, yes. However, there are a couple factors at play. Number one, when I normally am spreading warmth across a region, I'm doing it on my own and completely focused—not, that your company is completely bothersome. It's a nice change, actually, having a fellow spirit to talk to. But anyway, the second factor is I'm not aiming to warm up just the city. If I have it my way, I plan to warm up Russia from here in Moscow to as far away as Novosibirsk. It takes longer, but it winds up saving me time to do it all in one sitting rather than travel too frequently."

She looked Pitch right in the eyes and an unmistakable hint of deviousness danced within her currently glowing, charcoal-ember eyes. She added, "It's also how I get away with screwing around with Frost's winters. While he doesn't mind blatantly disregarding the rules of nature, I prefer a more tactful approach. 'Why, no Mother Nature, I don't know _how_ the Midwest is experiencing 60-degree weather in February! I've been in Mexico City this whole time!'"

Pitch couldn't help but laugh. "Don't tell me. That winter the mortals held their Olympics and were so afraid they wouldn't have enough snow for some of their events?"

"Guilty as charged!" Amberlynn raised her free hand in proud recognition. By this point, Pitch roared with laughter. He exclaimed, "That was brilliant, Amberlynn!"

Amberlynn tried hiding her blush and smile behind her glowing hair. She paused for a moment and added, "I didn't think you actually followed what humans find important unless there was some element of fear that'd be involved."

"You're quite right, I don't," Pitch agreed. "You would be surprised how much fear radiates from those Olympic games of theirs. There is plenty of petty fear that I don't particularly care for: what if someone isn't recognized for their achievements, what will these athletes do after they're has-beens. There's plenty of it to be sufficient and strengthen me just fine, but they're rather dull.

"It's during the events themselves that are the most riveting! That split-second when an athlete makes a jump and he doesn't quite remember if he's made enough full rotations to land without breaking a leg—or worse. When gear essential for the athlete's safety suddenly doesn't feel quite like it has before, but it's too late for her to second guess its functionality."

He didn't realize he had been rambling for as long as he was, for when he saw Amberlynn, not only was she clearly finished with her assignment (he thought it was getting warmer), but she was sitting curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees. She didn't seem terrified, though. More like she was actually enjoying listening to the story and wanted to hear more.

"Please, don't stop on my account!" she said when she realized Pitch was staring at her. Slightly dubious, he asked, "This…doesn't at all terrify or revolt you?"

Amberlynn waved away a hand in dismissal. "If you ask me, anyone who willingly chooses to put themselves in such dangerous positions has it coming to them. Honestly, it's almost like a decrease in fear seems to correlate with an increase in stupidity. Have you _seen_ what some mortals do today to pass off as entertainment? And I don't just mean the 'professional' daredevils either. Honestly I think a good handful of them could afford to be knocked down a peg or two with some good old-fashioned fear and common sense."

Before either of them knew it, tiny streaks of pink began to appear over the horizon before the sun could peak its way through. Luckily for Pitch, it was still early enough for plenty of long shadows to extend behind several large trees nearby.

Upon seeing how quickly he moved to a nearby shadow, Amberlynn facepalmed and said, "You and daylight don't get along, do you? Duh, Sommers!"

After mounting a Nightmare he summoned, Pitch reluctantly admitted, "It really makes traveling much more difficult to say the least. Although with the inevitable sunrise, I must bid a rather hasty farewell and until next time." A sly smile spread across his lips as he added, "Unless, of course, your prior threat still stands after today."

Approaching Pitch's Nightmare, Amberlynn looked up to the spirit and replied, "I suppose I might be willing to turn a blind eye to the other night, no strings attached. When you wind up back in the States, odds are fairly strong you might find me recharging at Death Valley."

Pitch chuckled before he rode his mare off to who-knows-where. Amberlynn couldn't help but wonder just what exactly made her so open to give away that information…and why exactly she kind of hopes to find him there later.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So guess what happens when I have an exam on Monday and zero desire to study for it? I become super productive on this instead! ;)**

 **Hazelnut Lovage: Eeep thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it and that you ship them too! :D**

 **One final thing, I honestly didn't originally intend for this particular chapter to even exist, but I just couldn't help myself. Here's some more Amberlynn x Pitch fluff ^_^ #sorrynotsorry**

 **But anyway, enjoy! As always, I do not own ROTG, just my OC**

Two weeks had passed since Amberlynn's last encounter with Pitch—and quite uneventfully, too, if you were to ask her. Although, the "uneventful passing" didn't stop her from having an extra spring to her step wherever she walked or a lighter air about her when she flew.

She found herself killing two birds with one stone when she decided to warm up the region surrounding Iguazu Falls in Brazil. Admittedly, warming up this particular region can sometimes be quite frustrating thanks to how much heat the water absorbs, but Amberlynn was up for the challenge today! Besides, the mortals farther up in Sao Paolo sure could use some nice, warm weather for the upcoming Festa do Peao.

The sun began to set behind the trees as Amberlynn was finishing up her work, and many of the mortals by the waterfall were beginning to pack up and leave for the day. As a little boy and his mother walked past, his eyes widened in fear and pointed at—no, not at— _past_ Amberlynn and shouted, "Cuca! Cuca!"

The mother picked up her child and gently cooed soothing words that, while Amberlynn couldn't understand the translation, knew whatever ( _more like whomever_ she thought) had scared him was now but a distant memory.

"Did you understand a word of what those two said?" Amberlynn asked Pitch, who she knew stood right behind her. She turned her head to see him dismissively shrug.

"The small mortal thought I was Brazil's equivalent to the Boogey Man. A female crocodile monster known as the Cuca," he answered bitterly. "Mummy over there decided to educate him that there is _no such_ _thing_ as a crocodile monster or any other monster for that matter. And the faint gleam in his eyes was the look of one less child to believe in me...although quite frankly I'm more offended he mistook me for some green lizard-animal!"

The summer spirit softly smiled. Though Pitch is already tall, any slouch or poor posture he may have almost immediately disappears if he's been offended or upset. She knew he was more hurt by the disbelief than he let on, but she didn't press it.

Instead, she laid a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Well, on an unrelated note, what brings you to South America this early in the evening? Surely, traveling by shadow can't be easy right now. Are you here for Festa do Peao, too?"

Pitch laughed. "I think we _both_ might have overshot Sao Paolo if that were the case, wouldn't you agree? Sometimes it's worth the extra challenge to find somewhere that I _know_ my Nightmares won't be able to pester me for a while."

Amberlynn deadpanned. "Oh yes, it must be _so_ difficult for you, having your own form of servants at your beck and call. How _do_ you find the time to do it all?" Pitch sheepishly smiled and held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay. I deserved that I know. But since we are both here, would you care to go for a stroll with me? I've heard the sunset's absolutely beautiful up in this region."

Amberlynn smiled and accepted his offer, taking his right arm which he held out for her. As they proceeded to walk away from the waterfall and deeper into the forest, Pitch teased, "To be honest, given the era you came from, I'm surprised you're okay about being without a chaperone right now."

"As flattered—and slightly offended—as I am that you think I grew up with the elite who needed that silly tradition," she replied, subconsciously wrapping her arm a little tighter around Pitch's, "wouldn't that require us to be courting at this moment?" Amberlynn had never seen Pitch blush before, but as the gray in his cheeks grew darker in color, the devious smile on her face grew even wider.

Before she had the chance to tease him more, a rather harsh wind—despite how warm Amberlynn made the region—blew and made her immediately regret not bringing a parka. She quickly hugged herself against Pitch, who was _very_ caught off guard by the movement, in an attempt to warm up.

"I have some questions," Pitch said quite bluntly. "One, why didn't you bring one of your _many_ jackets? And two, aren't you able to warm yourself up as a summer spirit?"

"I don't wanna hear it, ya pen bach," she muttered. "Though I am a summer spirit, I can either warm myself up or an entire region. I can't do both. Since I just warmed up a good portion of Brazil, and a bit of Argentina, I'm a little too drained at the moment to warm myself. And as temporary of a solution as it is to internally maintain the warmth, it's honestly easier to warm an entire region than to try to keep myself at a temperature I like. As for yer first question, I didn't think I'd actually _need_ anything besides my blouse and jeans in this weather!"

By the shaking of his torso, Amberlynn knew he was laughing at her, which caused her to look up and scowl at him, making him laugh even more. Still trying to maintain his laughter, he said, "I can't believe you just called me an idiot in Welsh. Admittedly, it's not the _worst_ thing I've been called in that language, either—not by a long shot. You're hopeless, but if you can give me a moment, let me try to do something for you. But you have to trust me."

Amberlynn obligingly took a step back and crossed her arms together, still a little bit cold, allowing Pitch to do whatever idea is in his head at this moment. He held his hands out and a swirl of black nightmare sand began to arise from both. _I still trust ye, Black, but what_ on earth _are ye doing?_ Amberlynn thought to herself as a cloud of nightmare sand—approximately the size of a large bucket—had all but become opaque in nature.

After a few more moments of intense concentration from Pitch, and increasing curiosity from Amberlynn, the cloud of nightmare sand dissipated. In the Nightmare King's hands was what appeared to be a simple, black jacket.

"It's not the most detailed wardrobe," he admitted with a shrug, "and I'm not entirely sure myself if it'll work or be comfortable. But for as long as sand can retain heat, I figure it'd be worth a shot. _And_ you supposedly shouldn't need such heavy clothing for the milder climates. But if you—"

"Pitch, this is beautiful!" Amberlynn said in awe. She held the jacket in her hands for a moment, getting a feel for it. While the exterior was a course, abrasive texture she expected from being made of sand, the interior part of the jacket just slid through her fingers like silk. _How did he do that?_ Not quite yet ready to put it on, she asked, "Do ye think this will try to give envelop me in darkness give me nightmares?"

Pitch's face scrunched up in thought for a minute before admitting, "To be quite honest, I'm not entirely sure. I've never made something out of my sand before _without_ that specific purpose." He tilted his head and, with a hint of mischief, added, "I suppose there's only one way to find out, isn't there? And if it does, you're the only spirit I know who would be able to restrain it. Last I recall, you called yourself my little light in the darkness…"

"And the darkness has not overcome it," she finished with a smile. Curiosity (and cold) getting the best of her, she put it on. The slight shivering she was doing from the wind _immediately_ ceased. She suddenly had thoughts of being isolated in Antarctica, trapped in a small cave on Mount Everest, stuck in a boat on the Yana River…

"There'll be no more of that, thank you!" she muttered aloud. Pitch watched her with amazement. Guilt initially came over him as he sensed all her fears come to focus, but Amberlynn began to softly radiate from within. Quite similar to when her hair and eyes glow as she works, her body emitted a soft, red aura. Her fears no longer coming to light, the aura about her dissipated, and yet the jacket remained unchanged.

"Huh, look at that," Amberlynn said with pride, "I guess this jacket knows who the real boss is after all. What's with that gaping hole of yers, Pitch?"

Confused, Pitch didn't even realize his mouth was open in surprise. He quickly regained his composure and replied, "Fascinating! It doesn't surprise me that you could keep the darkness and nightmares away. But how did you do that without destroying it in the process or turning it back into dream sand?"

Amberlynn shrugged. "What use have I for dream sand or ruining this beautiful jacket? Just because I have fears, it doesn't mean they need to be destroyed. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Some of us could use some good-old fashioned fear and common sense. Besides, you saw my worst fears. There's no way on earth I would let any of those happen in a million years!"

Pitch smiled and held out his arm to the summer spirit. "You truly are a remarkable woman, Amberlynn Sommers." She smiled, her cheeks blushing a deep crimson color, and took his arm as they continued strolling through the forest well into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: What's this? Two new chapters in one day? Surprise! I probably won't be able to make any posts for a while after this, so here's a little something extra. Enjoy!**

 **I do not own ROTG, just my OC**

Jack Frost flew as quickly as he could to Santoff Claussen, although it didn't seem to be fast enough even _with_ the winds helping him. This was the third time in three months that North set off the Northern Lights, alerting the other Guardians that there was trouble and they all needed to meet. _Let's just hope we have something and it's not a false alarm…again!_

By the time he arrived, he saw that nothing changed since the last time they met up: North and Bunny were arguing over whose holiday was more important, Tooth was yelling out orders to the handful of baby tooth fairies that followed her from her tooth palace in Asia, and Sandy—who apparently arrived not too long before Jack—rolled his eyes along with the winter spirit at the sight before them.

"Um, guys?" Jack yelled, bringing the other Guardians back to focus. Directing his attention to North, he asked, "What brings us here this time?"

North clapped his hands together and boomed, "Ah, yes! Whole group is here, good! Now we can put aside Christmas is more important debate for real reason why we gather today."

"Oi, mate!" Bunny interjected. "If you bring up one more time that rubbish _or_ we find out we all came here for nothing— _again_ —I swear I'm gonna kick that bloody globe of yours all the way across the arctic and into the Philippines!"

"Ha! As if I keep enjoying spending time _not_ checking list or crafting new toys for good boys and girls," North bellowed in reply. He marched over to the end of the globe room and directed his hand toward the tallest window in the room, arguably the entire castle, pointing in the direction of where the moon is. "But Man in Moon insists we all be together, standby or no. So on standby together is what we'll be!"

"On 'standby,' North?" Bunny yelled in frustration. Though all the other spirits were admittedly just as frustrated, Bunnymund was the quickest to voice them…and also probably the least calm about vocalizing his grievances. "If MiM were to tell us to be 'on standby' like this mere days before—"

Before he had the chance to finish, the moon shone twice as bright before them, diverting everyone's attention toward the window. North gave Bunny a knowing look before he said, "Ahh, Man in Moon! What news do you bring us tonight?"

A moonbeam made its way through the window, hitting the ground the Guardians circled around. A shadowy symbol appeared in the center of it, one that Jack didn't recognize. Although by the white sheets that Toothiana's and North's faces became, he sensed he was about to find out. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Bunny piped up and muttered, "Mates, we might have a problem."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm baaack! Happy October everybody! Sooo I officially survived 3 exams since the last time I posted, and in celebration I just might post a couple more chapters this week! ;)**

 **Black Moons Daughter: Thank you I'm glad you like it! And I'm sooo happy you like Amberlynn :3**

 **I do not own ROTG, just my OC...enjoy!**

Amberlynn didn't think she'd ever be able to shed that cursed parka! Almost immediately upon entering California, she ditched the winter clothes she snagged from some warehouse for a much more comfortable ensemble consisting of a light blue tank top, dark wash Bermuda shorts, and a dark floral print cardigan.

While she and Frost had many disagreements, one thing they most certainly had in common was a mutual hatred for shoes. Those horrendous boots were the first things she kicked as far away as she could, only to retrieve them later because she knew she'd regret it soon as she had to leave Death Valley. But for the time being, Amberlynn made sure to enjoy warmth that she didn't need to use energy to create.

She dug her toes into the still-burning-hot sand as she lied down, placing her hands comfortably behind the back of her head as she took in the sight of the constellations on this cloudless night. _Not that there actually would be many clouds to begin with, being in the desert_ , she thought happily. No matter how many times or how many years she's seen the sky on a clear night, the pure beauty before her both fascinated and calmed her.

"You can come out of hiding, Pitch. I promise you won't get caught like some mortal breaking curfew," she teased while not tearing her eyes away from the sky. Sure enough, a tall, dark figure emerged from behind the dunes, slightly impressed that she knew he was there.

"To be fair, I'd hardly call it 'hiding,' considering I literally just appeared," Pitch countered, failing to hide the slight offense taken by her remark. "How did you know I was back there, anyway?"

"I might not have grown up in California," she explained, "But you better believe that after becoming a spirit, I quickly took to liking the hottest place in the world. There's not a living thing or spirit that comes here that escapes my notice." She sat up and beamed with pride as she added, "I wager I could easily challenge Flora and Fauna on the goings-on of this small region."

With lightning fast speed, her hand snatched down to a small object near her feet. Gently grasping the stinger of a two-inch-long scorpion between her index finger and thumb, she cradled its body in the palm of her hand. Pitch observed in fascination as Amberlynn stared at the wriggling creature, not with fear or even disgust, but rather almost as if it offended her.

"You and yer friends have been little buggers, haven't ye?" she chastised it. "It's quite rude, really. Sneaking up on unsuspecting travelers through the night, poking them with that nasty little venom of yours. And fer what? Going 2 weeks before ye can use yer venom again? I'm gonna let ye go, but why don't ye go be productive and use that weapon of yers on some food and not something that can squish ye, eh?"

Still firmly holding onto the stinger, she flicked the arachnid a few feet away from her and lit a small fire blockade between her and it, just for good measure. After it scurried away, Pitch eyed Amberlynn and said, "I take it this is a…frequent occurrence?"

Amberlynn put out her hand to quench the fire blockade. "Scorpions don't have great vision," she explained, "but most are extremely sensitive to light, thus why they tend to be nocturnal. That particular one was a bark scorpion, most vicious godforsaken creature. One sting can kill a mortal, but a spirit…well, let's just say it's one bloody hell of an experience for a good couple of days."

Upon noticing Pitch subtly examining her for any sting marks ( _not subtle enough_ , Amberlynn thought with a faint smile), she stood up and said, "You don't have to worry about me. I wasn't stung. Have been, though, a good few times when I first became a spirit. Mostly if I don't use fire to deter them, I can snatch them off the ground before they strike. Told you I could rival the twin spirits on what goes on around here!"

Pitch shook his head and laughed. "You have reflexes that can _beat_ the strike of a scorpion's tail, but it is your _awareness_ of its presence that you rather pride yourself on? I'm not sure whether to think you are a fool or incredibly humble about your skills. Either way, remind me to not get on your bad side."

"You mean get on my bad side _again_?" Amberlynn challenged him. Despite her words, the smile and twinkle in her eyes showed him that she was teasing. He raised a brow and retorted, "Would I ever do that to you?"

Without missing a beat, she said, "1843, 1952, and just within this past month." She walked up until she was mere inches from him and, despite her being a head shorter than he, looked him straight in the eyes and crossed her arms. "But who's counting?"

"You're right, absolutely nobody," Pitch replied with a chuckle. "Now tell me, Amberlynn. How would you define 'getting on your bad side'?"

Amberlynn lightly stood on her tiptoes and placed her hands behind her back. "I don't know, you tell me," she replied.

Pitch slowly closed the gap between him and Amberlynn. His hands gently cupped her face, searching her charcoal-ember eyes, which appeared to glow despite her not using her powers. She smiled softly and bit her lower lip, staring with curiosity into his eyes. She noticed they were now completely golden, not a hint of silver.

He began to pull her face toward him, but she quickly turned it to the side and muttered, "We have company." The words barely left her mouth before one of Pitch's Nightmares galloped up to him as quickly as he could. Pitch's eyes became speckled with silver as he turned to his mare. "I trust you have something _important_ to share," he growled. The nightmare whinnied in acknowledgment, and while Amberlynn didn't see the significance of it, Pitch's brows rose up in realization of whatever it said.

"I'm afraid I must make this visit…brief," he said apologetically. He mounted his nightmare and flew off without a moment's hesitation. Confused, Amberlynn looked around, almost expecting somebody to jump out in a "gotcha!" moment.

"Huh," she muttered to herself. "I'm not even going to pretend to understand what just happened, so I guess I'll just move on as if I didn't just almost…kiss…the King of Nightmares. I almost kissed Pitch Black…and I wanted to!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! As promised, here's another chapter up and running! ^_^**

 **I do not own ROTG, just my OC**

"It appears the rumors are true," the voice said. Though his back was turned to Pitch Black, he was more than aware of the presence of the King of Nightmares. "You have become soft, weak."

Pitch lazily walked along the perimeter of his old friend's establishment with his head held high and his hands clasped gently behind his back. "Really? Funny that you manage to hear such rumors, especially considering I am the only other spirit on this planet who still gives you the time of day anymore, no? And just how, precisely, have I grown weak as these rumors say?"

"As small a population as it may be, this region still has humans on it," the spirit reminded Pitch. "And the presence of humans will always mean spirits shall roam here. Even through the echoes of their whispers, word travels fast here."

He approached Pitch Black, cloak still over his head despite the harsh winds picking up. One thing he never understood about the Nightmare King was how he seemed completely impermeable to the weather, regardless of his history with Mother Nature. The spirit continued, "You used to take entire countries by storm with fear, all within a matter of hours! Now look at you! On a good week you might spread fear across a few cities and then simply vanish. It's because of that young spirit, isn't it?

"You spend a few weeks prancing about, courting some seasonal spirit, and you don't have it in you to spread fear anymore. This isn't because of your recent defeat against the Guardians, either. You don't just choose to limit spreading fear, you physically _can't_ spread any more than what you already do."

Pitch casually picked up a small stone, roughly the palm of his hand, and held it out to his friend to see. "Interesting story of yours, really. I give you points for some of the creativity, too. Although isn't it funny how life works out? Here I come in the miniscule few hours you have left of your freedom before you're sucked back into your prison, searching for you in regard to your prior offer of an alliance, and how do you repay me? You question both my strength and will. You see, in the short time since my last defeat against the Guardians, my powers have more than doubled."

He closed his fingers around the stone, creating a fist. With a simple squeeze, the stone in his hand crumbled into nothing more than dust, which the Nightmare King let drop by the feet of the old spirit. "Meanwhile, your only exposure to the outside world in the past several millennia are a scant few hours every decade or so—and limited to the perimeter of this pathetic, disintegrating rock—and there's nothing you can do about it. How long has it been since Mother Nature banished you to this wretched prison? Tell me again which one of us is weak."

The spirit flung himself toward Pitch in rage but was pushed back against the stone wall by a shadow. "You can lie to yourself all you want, but your eyes don't! Look in a mirror and tell me if you see the silver rage of a true Nightmare King!"

Pitch Black did not turn to face his friend/challenger. Rather, he summoned a handful of his nightmares who stood dutifully in front of his master. "Do what you want," he ordered, "but don't kill him. And when he has begged for death, do not cease. Then—and only then—when he has broken, will you be dismissed to return home."

The nightmares charged the trapped spirit, helpless in their ruthlessness. In the midst of his screams, Pitch whispered, "Good bye, Lynx."


	9. Chapter 9

**What's up everybody? Sooo sorry for the delay in posting! You know how it is when school happens and next thing you know, poof! A whole other week has passed and no new chapter to share**

 **But anyway, to make up for it, here's chapter 9 and it's a little bit longer of a chapter, too. Enjoy!**

 **This chapter occurs roughly around the same time as Chapter 8. And as usual, I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

Amberlynn supposed it was for the better that Pitch ditched her, for whatever reason he did. After all, this gave her some time to become rational again and try to process all that had transpired in the last month. Had it really been a month since her first _actual_ conversation with Pitch? More specifically, one which didn't result in someone making a threat to the other?

 _There's no way we've visited each other every day for a month straight_ she thought. _I don't even see Mother Nature or Jack combined that frequently!_ She paced down the desert, periodically kicking up some sand beneath her feet. _I mean, is it necessarily a bad thing, though, seeing him so much?_

Though she didn't notice (or refused to acknowledge it), her lips turned upward into a large grin as she thought about the time she had spent with the King of Nightmares. The way he passionately talked with her in depth about his work, especially during the Olympics in Russia ( _who knew both of us were up to no good at the same time over there_ ), his vast knowledge of the many villages and cities they found themselves to be roaming together at night.

She blushed at the memory of that particularly cold night (for her) in Brazil, and without hesitation Pitch created a jacket for her out of his nightmare sand. It wasn't anything fancy or heavy, but the material was surprisingly warm enough for her to continue strolling without shivering. Though she was still more than comfortable in Death Valley in just a tank top, she absentmindedly grabbed that particular jacket from the stash of clothes she keeps away for herself when she goes on assignment.

And it's not just listening to Pitch or accepting kind gestures from him, either. He listens to all her stories with as much intent and passion as he tells his. How she caused trouble during the Olympics in Russia, her vast knowledge of the constellations and how they've always fascinated her, even when she was human.

Though both were well aware that the other was human at one point before becoming a spirit, neither one dared to cross into that conversation. To know _when_ you appeared on the earth as a spirit and to know about what happens in all the spirits' lives... _as spirits_ , well, word travels fast. If someone didn't already know about what the Groundhog did centuries ago to make Bunny hate him, they'd find out the day their lack of knowledge on the topic was discovered.

But to discuss their time _before_ they became spirits, that's a whole other level of intimacy Amberlynn hasn't seen in spirits who _weren't_ romantically involved—with the exception of the Guardians. To be fair, that's also for those spirits who, for better or worse, remember their time as they were before. Many spirits that weren't born spirits don't remember who they were, or don't even _know_ that they were anyone or anything else before. For those who are truly bothered by it, they go to Tooth in search of their memories while others either couldn't care less or were granted with their prior memories intact—as was the case with Amberlynn. But the whole situation is such a delicate one, most spirits don't broach the topic of their memories without there being that intimate trust with the other ( _ahem, *cough* Pitch Black, *cough* below the belt move on Jack Frost in Antarctica *cough*_ ).

Despite being lost in thought, she was more than aware of the simultaneously random and unwelcomed visitor that was approaching her from yards away. She turned around to face her visitor and placed her hands on her hips in annoyance as she asked, "Don't you think that was cheating to use North's snow globe to get here? Now I can't leave here knowing you _wouldn't_ be able to follow me."

Toothiana nervously laughed and squeaked rapidly, "Oh, hush now, Amber! I just thought we could have some time to talk."

"Why else do you think I said using the snow globe was cheating?" Amberlynn retorted without humor. "First off, my name is Amber _lynn_! Don't ever call me Amber again. Second, who says I want to talk to you? And third, don't try to lie to me. Obviously, you're not here for that."

Trying her best to not look hurt by the remark, Tooth fluttered her wings a bit before she lowered herself to the sand and said, "I—I don't know what you're talking about! Why would I be here if it wasn't to talk?"

"Let's start with the simple fact that, oh, I don't know, you've _never_ spent this much time actively trying to _get_ my attention let alone _keep_ it in the history of…ever!" Amberlynn bluntly pointed out. "I can already tell right off the bat from that _alone_ that something's up. Secondly, you're a terrible liar. I didn't know it was physically possible, but yer voice squeaks even higher when you lie. Thirdly, I know the portal from another snow globe is about to open behind me because I can sense that—whoever it is—is gonna also try to approach me."

Amberlynn lit a fireball in her hand about twice the size of a softball, large enough to prove to Toothiana that she wasn't playing games. She warned, "Let's just pray for yer sake that whatever drewgi is about to make their appearance isn't very flammable."

The second a yeti stepped foot out of the portal, Amberlynn swung around to throw her fireball, only to have her arm thrust in the opposite direction by Tooth. The fireball shot past the first yeti and barely missed the second yeti stepping out of the portal by mere inches. The yeti whose fur nearly got singed shot his eyebrows up in shock and grumbled something unintelligible to his friend.

"I could use some _help_ over here!" Tooth shouted at her large companions. While she held her own against Amberlynn, she was struggling to keep up with the summer spirit. _How is she moving so fast?_ Every time Toothiana was able to block one attack, Amberlynn was up and ready with another shot.

Amberlynn flipped over Tooth's back, only for Tooth to grab her by the ankles and drag her back to the ground. Just as Amberlynn leaped toward Tooth once more, one of the yetis grabbed her by the collar and stuffed her inside a large, cloth sack.

"Thanks for that, but couldn't you have done that any sooner?" Tooth gasped. One of the yetis grumbled at her in protestation while the other shook a snow globe and threw it, opening another portal leading to North's workshop. Without further ado, all three…er, four…parties made their way through, leaving the desert behind.

* * *

Jack made it to Santoff Claussen with minutes to spare. _Heh, I even beat Tooth here_ he thought, pleased with himself. He greeted Sandy with a warm smile and proceeded to walk toward the globe room, where he saw North and Bunny arguing… _again_.

"Oi, North, how many times do I have to tell ya?" Bunny yelled. He proceeded to chase North down and around the room, trying to get his attention (though it appeared to be in vain). _So help me, MiM, if it's another Christmas/Easter debate_ he thought slightly bitterly. "You can't have this meeting here, ya big gumby! How many times do I have to tell you we need to do it my way this time!"

"Ahh, but the Warren is not my workshop," North stated dismissively. Trying everything in his power to not strangle him, Bunny argued, "Yes, but you're not listening, mate! If there's one time in your centuries of being a Guardian to listen to me, _now_ would be that time!"

"What's all this about?" Jack asked, his curiosity piqued. "Did I miss something important?"

Before either spirit had time to answer, a portal opened up in the globe room. Jack saw Phil and another yeti walk in behind Tooth, the latter yeti carrying a large sack. He plopped it in the middle of the room and whatever ( _or whomever_ , Jack realized) was in the sack was violently thrusting about, trying to escape.

Bunny ran his paws over his head and kept muttering, "Please tell me you didn't, North" at the same time Jack took his turn to yell at North. "What did we talk about, North? How many times do I have to tell you that you can't just kidnap people in sacks?" The winter spirit froze as soon as he saw a head full of flaming red hair peaking its way out of North's bag. _Oh no! MiM please don't let it be who I think it is!_

Disoriented, Amberlynn stepped out of the bag with some slightly scorched clothing from her attempt at escape. "I swear if I get my hands on those _bloody_ yetis, I'll—bloody hell rydw i'n oer! Ble ydw i? Gadewch i mi!"

Before North or any of the other Guardians could even open their mouths and talk to her, Amberlynn was frantically flying around the room, incoherently shouting in Welsh. She created as many fireballs as she could, initially to North's immediate panic, only to find she was on the hunt for as many fireplaces as she could to throw them in.

"We have to stop her before she burns down whole workshop!" North exclaimed in protestation. Jack and Bunny both stopped and stared at him in utter disbelief before exchanging glances with each other. This time, though, Jack vocalized his frustrations before Bunny.

"How dense can you honestly be, North?" Jack shouted. Everyone except his spring counterpart gasped in shock. "Jack!" Tooth warned, but he interrupted her. "Now is _not_ the time, Tooth! North! I need you to search for the heaviest, warmest coat you own and bring it here! Sandy, I need you to knock out Amberlynn with some of your dream sand, and Bunny? Get ready to catch her!"

Upon his signal, all the spirits set out to do their assigned tasks, with Toothiana nervously fluttering at Jack's side. North ran to the office in his workshop as quickly as he could while Bunny and Sandy were trying to target Amberlynn. She kept flying in circles too quickly for Sandy to seamlessly throw dream sand at her without risking hitting everybody else (he learned that lesson the hard way with Jamie Bennett during their adventures in Burgess), so he decided to get creative.

With one hand holding a ball of dream sand and another holding a "dream lasso," he threw his lasso at the summer spirit just as she was making a turn around the corner, snagging her ankle. With a quick tug on the lasso, he sent her flying in their direction with perfect aim to throw his dream sand. With one throw, the sand smacked her in the head and sent some residual dream sand landing on her jacket-covered shoulders.

After Bunny caught her, they brought her with them back toward Jack and Tooth. Seeing Jack's expression, Bunny explained, "I know what you're thinking, mate, but don't worry. My own body temperature alone should be plenty to keep her warm for a bit. I swear I'll get her warmed up more by the fireplace in a second, but you've gotta get a load of this."

Upon closer inspection, the four Guardians present noticed her jet-black jacket begin to turn gold before disintegrating into thousands of tiny, golden, dream butterflies and dissipating around Sandy, leaving Amberlynn in nothing but the tank top, shorts, and light cardigan she had been wearing before.

"I have my coat, Jack!" North bellowed, not bothering to hide his annoyance as he approached the other four, completely unaware of what they just saw. "Now, why do you insist that I bring it down?"

"Because you are incredibly impeccable with your timing!" he retorted, snatching the coat from North and tossing it to Bunny, making sure to keep his distance away from the summer and spring spirits. Bunny caught the large fur coat with one paw and immediately began swaddling Amberlynn in it almost like she was a newborn. As soon as the coat completely covered the summer spirit, her visible shaking and trembling cut down by more than half.

After ensuring that Bunny was close enough to the fireplace to warm Amberlynn back up (while the winter spirit still kept his distance from the two warmer-natured spirits), Jack swung around and snapped at North. "What the hell is wrong with you, Nicholas?"

Completely shocked by such blatant rudeness, North's eyebrows shot up and his eyes doubled in size. "Whe—where do you get such gall, Jack? _Never_ have I been so disrespected by one I consider such a close friend!"

"Oh, you wanna talk about disrespect?" Jack challenged. "How about you just running off and sending your yetis along with Tooth to do whatever you want without either mine or Bunny's input involved? Oh, oh, how about the fact that you just _kidnapped_ Amberlynn and tossed her into one of your sacks? And the fact that you _happened_ to have one that was _fireproof_ , so you _knew_ she wouldn't have a fair chance to escape!

"Or—oh no, this one's my favorite part! How about the fact that you kidnapped her _from her own home_ —yeah, I know Amberlynn, and I know the _only_ place in literally the entire world she is comfortable wearing that little clothing is in Death Valley. And you kidnapped her from _literally_ the hottest place on earth and sent her through a portal to quite arguably one of the coldest!"

"Jack, you need to calm down," Toothiana interrupted softly but firmly. "Never mind North's more…albeit unethical ways of getting people here, we have bigger things to worry about. Like what was she doing wearing a jacket made out of Pitch's nightmare sand? As Guardians, we need to find out what he has planned and if he is part of the bigger threat MiM warned us about."

"Wait, she was doing _what_ with Pitch?" North asked, clearly dumbfounded by whatever piece of vital information he just missed. Tooth quickly explained, "The jacket Amberlynn was wearing. Turns out it was made out of nightmare sand and when Sandy hit her, it returned to dream sand."

She tried to rest her hand on Jack's shoulder, but he yanked it off and marched away from both North and Tooth. "You still don't get it!" he barked. "Amberlynn Sommers could have DIED and it would have been BOTH of your faults!"

North, Tooth, and Sandy all stared at Jack in both shock and disbelief. Though Bunny didn't move from his spot with Amberlynn by the fireplace, his ears perked up and aligned themselves in the direction of the conversation. "Well, guess the cat's out of the bag now, sheila," he muttered.

"It shouldn't be my place to tell you guys," he began, "And it quite frankly isn't any of your business. However, because you nearly _killed_ her, you've kind of forced my hand. Amberlynn physically cannot stay in extremely cold places for long periods of time. She _barely_ tolerates being somewhere humans would consider room temperature, let alone in the middle of _Santoff Claussen!_ Fire is the source of her heat and energy, guys! Think about how much shorter of a lifespan a fire has here as opposed to the Warren. _That_ is what is happening to Amberlynn every time she goes on a mission and she needs to physically prepare for it. _That_ is why she has more clothes than any other spirit I've met. It's not out of vanity or boredom—okay, maybe partly vanity—but it's out of _necessity_!"

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Tooth's wings twitched before she argued, "Well, she could have said something to me before any of this happened. I wanted to talk to her, but she started attacking me and the yetis before I had any chance to explain. We probably could have had this all sorted out. And once again, we still have a bigger problem. She was wearing a jacket made out of Pitch's nightmare sand! What was she doing with him?"

"Getting her life saved, apparently," Bunny answered. All the Guardians except for Jack walked over to the fireplace where they could all better hear him. He shifted for a moment, trying to readjust without waking up Amberlynn (although as much dream sand she was knocked out with, good luck with that).

"Trying to place blame on the victim, Tooth," Bunny said while shaking his head. "Not cool, sheila. You might have seen the jacket disappear, but you didn't feel the consequences of it disappearing. Before it disintegrated, Amberlynn was already shivering. After, her body temperature dropped _at least_ five degrees, mates. As far as I'm concerned, Pitch saved her life from the transition through that bloody portal. Besides, I know Amberlynn almost better than the show pony behind me. Whatever plans Pitch may or may not be involved in, the bloke's not bringing her into it. Trust me, she's too strong-willed to get tangled up in that."

Bunny turned his head to lock eyes with North in a death glare. He added, "If you bothered to listen to either me or frost bite, you might have known that! Now our next plan is to figure out how and when to send her back home without risking her entire body going into shock."

"But we can't send her home yet," North said matter-of-factly. _When will he get a hint?_ Jack thought bitterly. Honestly, he's never seen North so dense to the idea of "no" before! "We still need to tell her about imminent threat and Man in Moon's plans!"

"Yeah, well, I don't think she's exactly going to be very _receptive_ of us right now, North!" Jack snapped. "Quite frankly, if you knew anything about Amberlynn, you'd know she wants nothing to do with the Guardians or MiM."

"Sounds like somebody we knew when we first met him," Toothiana replied, trying to lighten the mood. Jack shook his head and explained, "This is different. I can't quite explain it but Amberlynn has her own reasons for her resistance to MiM, and none of them at all related to my experiences. We might be the closest spirits in age but trust me when I say I have the feeling our transitions to becoming spirits are nowhere near similar."

Sandy waved his hands around, successfully getting the attention of the other four Guardians. While the others were busy arguing back and forth, he had been busy coming up with a Plan B. Clearly, as Jack and Bunny were saying, when Amberlynn wakes up she's not going to want anything to do with them, _especially_ not after today.

Sad isn't it? As a Guardian he is to ease children of their fears and fight off any nightmares of Pitch's. Yet what happens when they bring a fellow spirit to North's workshop? He sees the deepest pits of her fear written all over her face because of them, and yet it was Pitch Black himself who seemed to be able to save her. Nothing about this sat right with him.

He flashed some symbols over his head, indicating his agreement with Bunny. He then proceeded to suggest the use of the Warren until she fully regains her strength. Amberlynn trusts Bunny, and hopefully he'd be able to help smooth things over with her when she wakes up.

"I'm not going to be the messenger boy over an idea that I had _no say in_ ," Bunny replied. "But taking her to the Warren actually isn't a bad idea." North pulled a snow globe from out of his pocket and offered it to Bunny, which he quickly refused. "No offense, mate, but you've helped enough. I'm taking her there my way."

 **Some more Welsh terms!**

 **Drewgi: Smelly dog (insult someone you don't find agreeable)**

 **Rydw i'n oer: I'm cold**

 **Ble ydw i: Where am I**

 **Gadewch i mi: Let me out**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here we are chapter 10 is up and running! :D As usual, I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

The first thing Amberlynn felt when she regained consciousness was…surprisingly, not cold. Last thing she remembered was being dragged from her home through a portal to North's workshop like some raggedy old puppet. _Ugh when I get my hands on North and his yetis I'll…wh-what on earth am I wearing?_

When she opened her eyes, she found herself wrapped in an exceedingly large, red-and-black, fur-lined overcoat. _North,_ she remembered with disgust. _Well, I'm at least not freezing my arse off_. When she sat up she found herself inside a brightly lit cavern completely covered in ivy. Upon inspection of the scenery below her, she saw flora of magnificently bright blues, reds, yellows, and she even saw a…purple river?

"I'm glad to see you're finally moving around, sheila," Bunny said. When she turned to look at him, he was leaning against an ivy-covered column, whittling a boomerang. Shifting her focus between the Guardian and the scenery around her, she asked, "How long have I been gone?

"Oh, not long," he answered. He turned his body to face her while still leaning against the column. "I reckon 28…30 hours. And it's a good thing, too. That bloody awful number North sent Tooth and the yetis to do out of left field took quite the toll on you, mate."

"Yeah, well and it's no thanks to Tooth and those rotten—wait, what did you say?" Amberlynn asked.

"I'm saying I agree that it was a horrible thing for him to do," Bunny said as he stood up. He held out his paw for Amberlynn to take to help her up on her feet. As they walked down one of the many halls, he continued, "North has this trait where he tends to take charge no matter what the rest of the team might say. At best it's annoying, but his direction gets us where we need to go but at worst…there aren't enough words in the world to justify this situation, but I'm truly sorry that his obstinance nearly cost you, Amberlynn. I should have fought harder to prevent this."

The summer spirit stopped for a moment before pulling Bunny into a quick but meaningful hug. "Don't beat yourself up over it too much Bunny, because I more than forgive you. It's not your fault. You weren't at the desert when it went down and…something tells me you weren't in Santoff Claussen at the time that Tooth went through the snow globe the first time, were you?"

Bunny's sheepish grin accompanied by a shrug gave all the confirmation Amberlynn needed. She chuckled and asked, "By the way, was my having a near-death experience the only way to get you to let me see the actual Warren? How many decades have I protected the meadow above, and you've _never_ let me see this beautiful place?"

This time it was Bunny's turn to laugh. "My apologies, sheila. If you'll come this way I shall begin the grand tour." He led her down every nook and cranny of his Warren, showing her not only all the flora and fauna of vastly different hues, but also his stone warriors shaped like eggs which help guard his home and come to him in times for battle.

After about the umpteenth time she tripped over North's large overcoat, she groaned and decided enough was enough. Figuring she was warm enough by now, she shed the coat only to notice the lack of an article of clothing she _knew_ she was wearing before getting kidnapped to North's workshop.

"Umm, Bunny?" she asked. "I know I'm not going crazy, so I'm just going to ask this outright. Where the heck is the jacket I was wearing earlier?"

Bunny stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms. "I wouldn't recommend opening this can of worms with the others, but when Sandy hit you with his dream sand, it disintegrated every last bit of Pitch's nightmare sand that it was made from."

Amberlynn's jaw dropped in realization of the warning Bunny was giving her. While he and Jack knew she wanted nothing to do with the Guardians' drama against Pitch ( _funny how Jack used to be the same way not that long ago_ ), the other three just didn't seem to get it. As far as they seemed to be concerned, any ally of Pitch was a potential threat to the children and their work. _Although to be fair, Bunny was just as dense_ she thought, remembering a time when they first became friends. _He didn't seem to grasp the concept that I couldn't care less who did what in their petty arguments_.

The summer spirit's thoughts were interrupted by Bunny as he continued to speak. "I'm not gonna lie to you and pretend that I understand what exactly is going on, sheila. To be honest I'm not entirely sure if I can handle the truth of whatever you are or _aren't_ doing with him." Amberlynn rolled her eyes as Bunny mock-shuddered at whatever thought appeared to cross his mind. "But for whatever reason he gave you that jacket, it very well could have been the reason you _didn't_ go into hypothermia. As far as I'm concerned, Black saved your life after Tooth and the yetis took you. I won't forget that."

Amberlynn couldn't believe her ears. Bunnymund, the one who she could have sworn hated Pitch Black more than any of the other Guardians, just openly admitted to being aware of a good thing he did—or rather a bad thing he prevented—that was caused by the Guardians themselves. She wasn't sure why, but this gave her a newfound sense of confidence.

She hugged Bunny, a little bit longer and tighter this time, and whispered in his ear, "Thank you, Bunny." After releasing him from the embrace, she coughed slightly and asked, "So, where _exactly_ is the exit for the Warren?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Chapter 11's set and ready to go!**

 **I should probably give a slight heads-up about the last half of this chapter as a just-in-case. It shouldn't be too heavy, but for anyone who is uncomfortable with anything surgery-related, just a slight heads up. I think I toned it back, but I also love biology soooo my definition of "toned back" might be a little skewed in this case lol**

 **Ahem, well anywho, back to the story! Thanks to all my awesome readers out there and as always, I do not own ROTG, just my OCs.**

Amberlynn flew through the quiet streets of Burgess with the soft glow of the sunrise overhead. Despite how much she wanted to rectify how cold the town was for the end of August, she wasn't quite ready to do that. After learning that Jack was the one who not only helped save her life at Santoff Claussen, but also chewed out North in the process for nearly killing her, she owed too much to the winter spirit to mess with him just this moment. Besides, she wasn't there for Jack, anyway.

 _I mean, honestly! Who tries to kiss someone and then just disappears on them for weeks?_ she wondered. It might have been a bit forward of her to go looking for him in order to confront him about the situation, but she couldn't care less. To be fair if she's being honest with herself, she might as well just be sightseeing. While she knows one of the entrances to Pitch's lair is somewhere here in Burgess, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. _Or the right shadow out of all that have been cast today…I don't know what I'm looking for, do I_? The only certainty she knew was that with the coming sunrise, she was sure to be nearing his lair if not already there, right? That is, if he wasn't on the other side of the world.

Amberlynn couldn't help but laugh at herself in this situation. _Serves ye right, eh Sommers? Ye can't keep making impulsive decisions. They hardly worked for ye as a human and they rarely work for ye now as a spirit_.

From behind, a large force rushed passed her with no intent of slowing down. Once again reacting on impulse, she chased the thing as fast as she could to see what was running. Had she not looked down in time, she would have almost missed the Nightmare barreling down a tunnel which lay beneath an old, rickety bed.

"Subtle, Pitch," she muttered. "Although to be fair, I've lived here nearly 200 years and this is my first time seeing it, so maybe there's something to it! Okay, Sommers, in you go."

Without any further thinking, she dove to the bottom of the pitch-black tunnel. While she couldn't see down the endless hallway much past the ball of fire in the palm of her hand, she admired the structure Pitch put into the carvings along the wall. She noticed many of the pillars were modeled quite similarly to that of Tuscan Roman columns, almost too similar to the originals. _How long has Pitch been on this earth?_

Though Amberlynn couldn't find the source of the light, she finally came across an area that she could see without additional aid of her small fire. After dousing the light in her hand, she gazed upon and just began to fully appreciate the immenseness of this labyrinth of the Nightmare King's. Much like the Warren, tunnels and stairs were leading every which way to this centralized location, which she noted had a large, black globe sitting in the middle of the room.

Unlike the Warren, though, every stair and hall led straight into sheer darkness. This cavern was very intentionally designed for both offensive and defensive purposes. Anyone foolish enough to come here without the slightest sense of night vision wouldn't make it far without a long-lasting torch. Those who do make it far enough into this lit room wouldn't be able to tell one hall from another, making it the perfect opportunity for Pitch or one of his Nightmares to attack any enemies. Amberlynn even struggled to remember exactly which of the many halls in the labyrinth she came from, and she was only a few meters away from hers!

"Pitch?" she called out as loudly as she could. "It—it's me, Amberlynn. Listen, I—I—I'm sorry for comin' into yer home unannounced and uninvited…although I guess as many times as you've paid a visit to Death Valley, I guess you could say we're almost even. But anyway, I was just wonderin' if we could talk…you know, spirit to spirit. Look, I don't know if what I thought almost happened actually _did_ almost happen or not. But I was hoping we could talk about it?"

Silence. Slightly annoyed, Amberlynn retorted, "Well, I didn't think the King of Nightmares would be such a coward over a little—"

One of Pitch's Nightmares came barreling toward Amberlynn, stopping mere inches away than her face. Not expecting a reply, she asked it, "What, are you supposed to intimidate me? Need I remind ye I took out ten of you lot _and_ destroyed yer master's scythe in the process? Where's Pitch Black?"

The Nightmare whinnied and galloped away. After a moment of realizing Amberlynn was still standing where it found her, it came back and huffed impatiently. Realization dawned on Amberlynn's face at what she was supposed to do.

"Oh! I mean, I guess I'm coming," she said, shocked that it could understand her. Following the rather quick pace of the Nightmare, the two made a couple quick turns down a hall to find another lit room, though it was nowhere close to as well-lit as the globe room. The room had an eerie but somehow simultaneously elegant look about it. Black curtain draped the wall and what little furniture there was appeared to be made of some sort of black marble. There was a high-backed, black marble chair ( _this must be some throne room,_ Amberlynn thought) with some oddly shaped lump in the seat of it.

Upon closer inspection, she realized that "lump" was none other than a mutilated Pitch Black. The King of Nightmares was curled up in so much agony he neither realized nor cared to notice he was no longer the only spirit here.

"Oh sweet, celestial heavens, Pitch!" Amberlynn cried in shock as she ran over to him. "What happened to ye?!" Holding his face in both her hands, she could see he was profusely sweating as well as feverish. His hair, damp from sweat, clung to parts of his face while others stuck out every which way. Aside from the occasional groans in pain, he didn't seem to register that she was here, which was also quite alarming for her.

"Don't worry, Pitch. We'll get ye taken care of." Turning to the Nightmare who stood dutifully by the door, she asked, "Do you mind? I can't very well mend him if he's stuck in a fetal position all night! Let's set him down so I can see what we're working with here." The Nightmare approached his other side and lowered its neck for Pitch's arm to be slung around.

"Okay on the count of three, we'll lift him up. One, two, _three_!" The second he was lifted out of his throne, Pitch wailed in pain. Still holding his waist steady, Amberlynn grimaced. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this to get a better look at you." Once he was lying down in a supine position, Amberlynn's left hand came up covered in blood.

"I need more of you!" she barked at the Nightmare. "You and your friends get me a pocket knife, possibly a needle and thread, a ton of disinfectant, and as much fabric as you can find. And one of you stay on standby." She lit large enough of a fire in one hand in an attempt to see to trace down the length of Pitch's body to find the original source of the bleeding.

"Damn. The good news, Pitch, is I found where you're bleeding. The bad news is I've a feeling you won't like what I'll have to do." Without further delay or waiting for the Nightmares to retrieve everything she requested, she created a wall of fire above her head for hands-free light. Focusing her attention back to Pitch, she took the ends of his tunic and ripped it in half right down the torso.

The summer spirit would be lying if she said she wasn't caught off guard by the sight of Pitch. His long, lean torso was a lot more toned than she expected it to be. _Now's not the time to lose focus, Sommers!_ Along the site of his injury, his grey skin was covered in various sticky shades of red. _What did you get yourself into, Black?_

Upon closer inspection of the wound on the right side of his waist, it appeared to not have hit any major arteries, which relieved her. The Nightmares came in one by one, dropping off their retrieved items as closely as they were comfortable with being around the solid wall of fire.

"Llwfr," she muttered as she rolled her eyes at the Nightmares. When she reached her hand toward his injury, she nearly yelped out as her hand pulled back in pain. The site of his wound was easily 10 degrees colder than what the rest of his body should have been, _especially_ given his obvious fever. There is only one reason Amberlynn could think of that would be the reason behind it. _Frost! After tonight, consider my debt to him null and void!_

"Okay, think Sommers. You can't very well work on something you can't touch, but you can't warm the room up without risking his fever getting worse. What to do, what to do…"

She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Suddenly, an idea struck her. It was risky, especially since she's never done something like it before, but just maybe…

Amberlynn took a small section of hair and wrapped it around her right harm. Before attempting her idea, she whispered to Pitch, "Os gwelwch yn dda aros gyda mi." Without further ado, she placed her right hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes in complete concentration. She focused on the exact location of Pitch's injury: the right side of his waist, mere centimeters above his hip bone but also low enough to have missed any veins and arteries near his kidneys toward the back.

If she were to take a guess, during whatever encounter Pitch had with Frost (for whatever reason), the winter spirit shot him with a solid blast of ice from his staff quite similar to when she fought him herself. However, unlike the fight she had with him, Jack clearly had intent to maim or worse.

Though she knew the process itself took mere minutes at worst, time appeared to slow down if for no other reason than to let Amberlynn dwell on the sheer fear and concentration for the eternity she put into raising just the small fragment of Pitch's body temperature. After a few more moments, just for good measure, she stopped and placed her free hand against his waist. The good news was she could touch it without being in pain from the cold. The bad news is, increasing his body temperature just increased the velocity of the bleeding.

Amberlynn grabbed the nearby knife and immediately put it over a blue flame she created. "Pitch," she said, "I don't know if you can hear me or not, but this is going to hurt like hell." Just before the knife was at a temperature she liked, she turned to a Nightmare and ordered, "I'll need two of ye to stand on either side of Pitch. What I'm about to do will be very painful for him, but I need ye to immobilize 'em so he doesn't further injure himself."

She was very confused by their lack of moving until she remembered the giant wall of fire she created overhead. She groaned, "Ugh, fine ye big babies! I'll condense the flames, but I still need some to be able to see what I'm doing! I promise I won't burn any of ye to a crisp."

Two Nightmares reluctantly approached the flame, but each placed their hooves on Pitch's limbs so that he wouldn't be able to move. As soon as the knife was at a temperature she thought would be sufficient, she extinguished the blue flame and brought it over to Pitch's injury. "Okay, Pitch. On the count of three. One, two…"

Before she said three, she placed the side of the hot knife on top of the vein that was causing the bleeding in short spurts, instantly cauterizing it. Unfortunately, though very expected, Pitch cried out in a deafening scream that Amberlynn was sure shook some of the stalactites in his lair.

"I know, I know," she cooed apologetically. "I promise the worst part is over. But I still have to stitch you up." Though he was immobile, Amberlynn could see Pitch shaking under the weight of the Nightmares' restraints. Trying to work as quickly as she could, she heated up the sewing needles ( _not exactly the kind of needles I had in mind, but these will do_ ) enough to conform them to a more curved shape before threading it.

Despite her shaking hand, she took a deep breath and made the first stitch into Pitch's open wound. Though he yelled out, it was nowhere near the level or extent of pain from when Amberlynn cauterized his blood vessels, so she continued with a little bit more confidence.

Once she closed up the last bit of his wound, she shooed the Nightmares away in order to make her wall of fire large enough to visibly see Pitch Black in his entirety once again. _Not the neatest mending, but then again, the last time I had to do this I had about the same amount of supplies available…and a much higher chance of infection_. After deciding her work was sufficient for the time being, she ripped up the fabric provided to her to completely wrap around Pitch's torso like a large bandage, with plenty of extra to change the dressing later.

She ran her hand through Pitch's sticky, spiky, black hair and assured him, "I promise you'll get plenty of rest shortly, anwyl." After locking eyes with a Nightmare, she said, "Call me crazy, but this throne room of his isn't a suitable recovery room. I just need a few more things from a couple of ye and then you can be on your merry way. I need a stretcher to put Pitch on and directions to his bedchamber. Oh, and if any of ye know how to clean up such the bloody mess in this room while I take care of _this_ bloody mess, that would be simply lovely!"

 **Llwfr-cowards**

 **Os gwelwch yn dda aros gyda mi-Please stay with me**

 **Anwyl-dear**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi guys! I am so, so, so sorry it's taken me forever to upload anything recent! School is getting crazy with exams and projects due so there's not really any good, consistent time for writing and editing anymore.**

 **I will also like to apologize in advance and let all you awesome readers know I probably won't be able to add any new chapters again until sometime between late November-early December. Sorry! DX**

 **But anyway, enough about delays and enjoy this next chapter we do have! I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

 _Damn those Guardians! Damn every single one of them,_ especially _Frost_! Pitch Black had lost track of how many times bouts of searing pain coursed through his body after his last encounter with the Guardians. The sad part is, despite the brutal beating he took to them, it still wasn't the worst defeat he had endured by their hands—not even close.

It took him a second too long before he realized something was different. The last time he distinctly remembered being conscious, he was curled up in agony in the throne room. And yet, here he was lying down in the comfort of his own bed. When he opened his eyes, he saw the spirit he presumed to be responsible for this change in location.

Pitch softly smiled. _Man in the Moon, Amberlynn is beautiful!_ He could tell she wasn't completely unconscious, but she was beginning to doze in a black chaise she had clearly pulled up to be right beside his bed. Her hair was tangled and frizzy, the soft pink cardigan and light green tunic were very wrinkled and in disarray, and the bags under her eyes suggested she hasn't gotten a decent night's rest in days. But MiM, Pitch couldn't take his eyes off her.

In an attempt to take himself out of his trance, he grunted loudly enough to alert her. "I knew you were quite forward," he teased, "But isn't this a bit much for you, especially given the time period you were raised in? Surely a gentlewoman such as yourself knows better."

Instead of replying with some sarcastic quip, her red, tear-stained face with baggy, bloodshot eyes looked at him and asked, "Is there any part of you that doesn't hurt right now?" He thought about it for a second and admitted, "Well, truth be told, just about everywhere except my face—"

Before he could finish that sentence, Amberlynn sat forward and slapped him right across the cheek as hard as she could. "Dammit, Pitch!" she yelled. "How could ye do this to yourself? How could you do this to me?"

"I can see that you're quite upset," he said calmly, but Amberlynn plopped herself on the edge of his bedside and cut him off, fresh tears streaming down her face.

"Quite upset, my arse! I'm bloody pissed! I come to Pennsylvania to try to talk to ye like a civilized spirit, and I find yer sorry arse being dragged through the tunnels by one o'yer Nightmares to drop your practically lifeless form in the middle of some godforsaken, stone-cold room fer ye to curl yerself up like a helpless child!

"Whatever Jack Frost did to ye made it almost impossible fer me to help ye! I had to _invent_ a new way fer me to warm ye up without frying yer brains and then literally _burn shut_ yer own bleeding veins and stitch ye back up with my bare hands! I watch ye come in and out of consciousness for almost two weeks and the first thing ye try to do when ye come to is make jokes?"

"I've been healed this quickly after less than two weeks?" Pitch quietly asked in awe. Amberlynn continued, "And I don't even know why I bothered considering the fact that you avoided—wait, what do ye mean 'this quickly'? It took ye almost two weeks to even regain _consciousness_ and this is 'quick' for ye?"

Pitch shrugged. "I'm the King of Nightmares. Not even the Guardians are strong enough to completely eradicate me from this world. They can certainly subdue me, but I literally thrive on fear. It's in my nature. Why, the very fear coming…from you…is strengthening me as we speak." Though he showed no tears like Amberlynn did, his heart became immensely heavy as he sensed all the fear radiating from her and realization hit of what all she had to endure.

"Oh, Man in the Moon!" he softly exclaimed. He reached out a hand toward her and sighed, "My dear Amberlynn, I am so, so, _so_ sorry." She let his hand rest on her face as she placed both hands over his and bawled.

"I didn't know what to think," she gasped. "At first I simply thought you were beginning to have second thoughts about us and then when I thought you were near death—"

Pitch sat up, ignoring every fiber of pain shooting from his abdomen, and kissed Amberlynn. He could taste the saltwater from her tears, and immediately hated himself for putting her through everything she went through. He placed his free hand around the nape of her neck and brought her even closer to him. _How could I possibly have second thoughts about her?_

Amberlynn placed her hand on his bare chest and gently pushed him away. Though he wouldn't show it, Pitch was suddenly very much aware, and slightly self-conscious, of his half-nakedness around the summer spirit.

Despite how very angry and confused Amberlynn was, she couldn't help but blush and smile after the—quite unexpected—kiss. She tried to regain her composure and stammered, "Yes, well—well that's quite…quite enough of that. Now then, hopefully with you much more alert, it'll be easier to change that dressing of yours. Come on, now. If you have the energy to pull that little stunt of yours, you certainly have the energy to sit up for a few minutes longer."

Pitch obligingly remained upright as Amberlynn went straight to work. After taking a pair of scissors and seamlessly cutting the old dressing off, she held a new roll of white gauze in one hand and lit a small fire in the other. After close inspection of Pitch's stitches, she doused the fire and began to rewrap his injury with the gauze.

"It's still relatively pink," she explained, "but I believe it looks well enough that I can take yer stitches out as soon as tomorrow, presuming ye'll be a good patient and not cause too much trouble for either yourself or me in that timeframe."

Pitch tucked a strand of Amberlynn's hair behind her ear while she was still wrapping the gauze around his waist. "I suppose if you are to be my nurse for the next few days, then we can work something—oof!"

Before Pitch could finish his train of thought, the summer spirit (quite intentionally) pulled on the gauze tighter than usual, giving him just enough of a shooting pain to cut him off. "That's nurse _and_ surgeon to you," she corrected with a slight smile. "But don't think fer one second ye can flirt yer way out of me being mad at ye after everything ye put me through. I don't know if ye did it as some sign of chivalry fer my honor or whatever, but I have everything under control with the Guardians. I don't understand at all what getting your royal arse kicked actually _did_ fer this situation."

"Hang on for a minute," Pitch said, clearly confused by what Amberlynn just said. " _What_ do you have under control with the Guardians and _how_ was my fighting them a sign of chivalry?" Amberlynn's eyes doubled in realization that Pitch had no clue what happened between them in Santoff Claussen. _Way to keep yer trap shut, Sommers,_ she thought with annoyance.

"Nothing," she squeaked, a little too quickly and too high-pitched for either spirit's liking. The summer spirit internally groaned but tried to redirect the subject. "Ahem, I mean, _why_ did ye go off and have to fight the Guardians? What was yer end-goal fer that? You _had_ to have known it wasn't gonna end well, regardless of who would have won this round."

Once the gauze was completely wrapped around his injury, Pitch settled back into his bed. "It's quite foolish, really," he admitted. "I knew I had a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding when I went to Canada to unleash Nightmares across the entire country, but something an old…acquaintance of mine said just challenged me and I wanted to prove him wrong. By our current results, though, he's right."

Amberlynn pulled up the chaise even closer to the bed and sat down in it, facing Pitch. "What did this acquaintance say to stir you up enough to start a fight with the Guardians?"

Pitch shrugged dismissively. "I honestly don't know why I let it get under my skin, I truly don't. He said I haven't been behaving as that of a 'true Nightmare King,' that I've been spending far too much time with a certain seasonal spirit and that I've lost my purpose."

Amberlynn blushed a deep crimson red and lowered her head to try to hide it, but Pitch placed a hand under her chin and raised it up to look at her. "But he couldn't have been further from the truth, and I see that now.

"I don't need to reign terror just to find a sense of purpose. _You_ showed me that. It might have taken me getting my 'royal arse kicked,' as you so _delicately_ put it, but I _don't_ need to reign terror across continents at a time to know my purpose. I am so much more than just the Boogeyman who hides under children's beds, but it was you who helped me remember that. If I recall, your words on the matter were some humans 'could afford to be knocked down a peg or two' with fear. I have been drunk and obsessed with power from fear for far too long but you, Amberlynn Sommers, _you_ were able to pull me out of that hole and show me the light. I will never forget that. You truly are my little light in the darkness."

Pitch reached out a hand for one of Amberlynn's, which she happily gave to him. He leaned over and gently kissed the top of her head, making the summer spirit blush an even darker crimson than before.

While absentmindedly grazing the top of Amberlynn's knuckles with his thumb, Pitch said, "I do believe it's your turn now, my dear. What _exactly_ are you handling with the Guardians, and why did you think my fighting with them was a result of said handling?"

Amberlynn slightly tensed at the question but shook it off. "I will tell you, but I don't want you to do anything rash for several reasons: The most important _and_ most obvious reason at the moment being that you're still healing and in no condition to be confronting _anyone_ anytime soon. Second, I'm not lying to you or covering up when I say it is being handled. Ultimately, _promise me_ you won't try to start another fight with the Guardians after I tell you what happened?"

"What is the worst you think could happen—" Pitch began to ask, but he didn't need to finish the question, as Amberlynn's fears answered it for him. _According to her fear, he would not just approach them in his current condition but lead a full-on attack with everything he has…or what's currently left of him. Despite his clearly weakened state, he would still push on, further draining what little bit of energy and life he has left of him past the point of no return. It still wouldn't stop him from trying to attack the Guardians—more specifically North (_ for whatever reason specifically him _, he thought)—but Frost would be there, ready to shoot an arrow of ice at Pitch again. Only this time, it would hit a more vital artery or organ…_

"Well, you certainly have quite the extensive knowledge of human anatomy," Pitch commented, both impressed and trying to help redirect Amberlynn's focus rather than on her fear. Unamused, Amberlynn simply glared at him. _She is not kidding around about the seriousness of what she is about to tell me_. Pitch raised up his hands (as high as they could go without causing him pain) in surrender.

"Okay, I _promise_ I won't go after the Guardians or try to start another fight with them after you tell me what happened. I swear it!"

Amberlynn eyed him suspiciously for a brief moment before she decided he was genuine in his promise. "Okay, I'll tell you. I hope you're comfortable because this is going to be a _long_ story…"


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! Thanks for your patience here's chapter 13 up and running!**

 **I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

Lynx remained huddled in the corner of his stone prison, slight tremors coursing throughout his body as he remained seated with his arms wrapped tightly around his knees. He was not cold, though, by any stretch of the imagination. He has never felt such an unpleasant experience (or so he has heard it to be) in all his millenia of existence, with or without the heavy, striped, fur cloak he wears which covers most of his extremities.

His nose twitched as his striking, green eyes stared at the small, barely two-inch crevice which remained but a few yards away from where he stood. He knew what stood on the other side of that crevice. But it wasn't time.

The night Pitch Black let his nightmares loose on Lynx, at one point during the torture he screamed and, in desperation, punched as hard as he could. Not at anyone or anything in _particular_ in his sight, but he just had to throw the hardest punch he could muster. Unfortunately at the time for him, for all he knew it left him with a broken hand and a team of yet-unharmed mares who ceaselessly continued their attack. Yet he later realized that his broken hand was merely a tradeoff, one broken hand for this little crevice. But it wasn't time.

The crevice was small and, in all honesty still gave him merely a snowball's chance in hell (especially with his broken hand), but it is a start. The hand at the moment is merely a minor inconvenience given his incredibly fast healing capabilities, _especially_ for a spirit. _For supposedly being like immortal gods to these pathetic worms, these weak spirits take too long to recover from their injuries. How I lost to these weaklings in the first place I'll never know_.

But he knew. He knew _exactly_ where he went wrong in his first battle against Mother Nature. It's the exact same reason why Pitch Black lost his last fight against the Guardians. He underestimated his opponent's power. Well, he certainly learned his lesson. The next chance he had, he would make sure to rectify that and take out the biggest threats first. But it wasn't time.

To be successful this time around, Lynx would have to continue to be patient. He has waited for several thousand years for his moment, what would a few more weeks be in the grand scheme of things? One fatal flaw he has learned of his threats, they are too impulsive for their own good. They don't take the time to think or observe their surroundings and strategize around it. It will be their rash nature that will allow Lynx to bring them all to their downfall.

What a pity, too. Although he would love to keep such potential talent as Jack Frost around and _properly_ train him in what he could do with his winter powers, he has become too ingrained in the ways of the Guardians to be swayed. Besides, it probably was for the better, anyway. Out of all his enemies, Jack Frost was most definitely the most rash and impulsive thinker of the bunch. Way too hot-tempered for a proper winter spirit.

At the whistling of the wind and the pounding against his cavern, Lynx's head jolted toward the source of the sound. But nothing was coming through from the other side. Merely the start of an ice storm. Though his body still shook, he returned his focus to his last hope, the small crevice.

"Soon enough," he assured himself, "it will be time. Before you can act, there is still much more planning to do. Now that you have access, you must choose a catalyst which will lead to your success." He jumped slightly when a particularly large chunk of ice crashed into the outer edge of the cavern. "But choose wisely...oh there are _so many_ different routes you have planned that you can choose. So many spirits to check off the list. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and they have given you _millenia_ to freeze it...almost quite literally in this climate."

He briefly looked up from his trance of the crevice to count the number of times any shards of ice larger than 2 inches in diameter struck his cavern. _Tap, tap, tap...94, 95...tap, tap, tap…_

"Oh, Lynx," he muttered, snapping back to focus, "Just _which_ route shall you choose to lead to victory? There is one route in particular that could help you kill 2 birds with one stone. Or rather 2 _spirits_ …"


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been consistent recently . Hopefully I'll be a bit moreso with the holidays approaching. But anyway, here's chapter 14!**

 **I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

 _Can't a spirit just catch a break?_ Jack flew across Asia as quickly as he could to make it to the Tooth Palace. _Well, at least it's not in Santoff Claussen again. The change in scenery could be good for us_.

He finally caught up with the other Guardians at the spring pool toward the bottom of the mountain where Tooth's palace resided. As he lowered himself to its edge, he noticed something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It wasn't until he approached the brightly-colored tooth fairy mural that he realized: _where are all the tooth fairies_?

"Ah, Jack, you are here!" North bellowed. North clapped his hand on Jack's back in welcome, but the winter spirit's eyes were busy darting all across the horizon, trying to find any sign of even one fairy. He finally let his eyes rest on Tooth, whose face was contorted in all sorts of confusion and worry.

"What happened over here?" he asked, finally giving up the guessing game. Tooth's wings twitched and she shook her head. "I wish I could tell you, but I'm not entirely sure myself. I-I went back in the field for this one night and when I came back, all of my girls, they're...something or some _one_ obviously terrified them enough to send them all into hiding. There's only one person I know who could hold that much fear over them."

"What, you mean Pitch?" Jack scoffed. When he saw that none of his companions shared his dubious sentiment, the nervous laughter died down. "No, no! There's _no way_ he healed that quickly after Canada! Were you guys even at the same fight I was? I literally shot ice _through him_ and made him bleed out!"

"Next time, I suggest ye try a method that won't piss me off!" a familiar voice called out from below. The Guardians all walked toward the edge of the pool and peered down the cliff, looking for where Amberlynn may be.

"Look out!" Jack cried. He grabbed Tooth by the waist and they all dove to the ground, away from the cliff, as a team of Nightmares charged upward to the nearest gilded column. The Nightmares all stood at the edge of the column, their golden eyes peering into the hearts of the Guardians, _daring_ them to make any sudden move.

From behind the team of Nightmares, Amberlynn jumped out and flew toward the spring pool, with her charcoal-ember eyes glowing in a rage the Guardians had _never_ seen in this young spirit before!

"A Guardian?!" she screeched. "Ye have the nerve to kidnap me from my own home, imprison me in Santoff Claussen, nearly kill me from said imprisonment, and ye _expect me_ to become a Guardian? Have ye lost yer damn minds?"

Jack had the courage (or stupidity, he hadn't quite figured it out himself) to be the first one to approach Amberlynn and speak to her. "Okay, okay, I know the best decisions weren't made regarding how to handle this entire situation," he began, glaring directly at North when he said it. "And I can see that you're quite upset-"

"I don't recommend referring to her justifiable wrath as 'quite upset,'" Pitch called out from the column above. He remained astride his favorite Nightmare, Onyx, as he called to the opposing party below. "Trust me when I say it doesn't end well."

"Pitch Black! What did you do to my fairies?" Tooth screamed when she saw him. She grabbed one of Bunny's boomerangs and began to fly toward him, only to have Amberlynn grab her by the ankles and throw Tooth across the spring pool. Tooth grunted in pain as her back smacked into the mural. Jack winced upon hearing the slight _crack_ which resulted from the hit. Whether it was her spine or the wall, he wasn't completely sure.

"Yer fight is not with Pitch, ye lousy ffynhonnell, it's with me," Amberlynn growled. North and Bunny stood on either side of Tooth as they helped her to stand. When she winced from the pain shooting through her back, Amberlynn continued, "And don't worry about yer wee fairies, they're fine. Just a bit frightened off after being chased around by a 10-by-20-foot firewall fer quite some time. After the ordeal ye lot put both me and Pitch through, consider yerself lucky that's _all_ I do to ye."

"She's right," Pitch confirmed. "This is all Amberlynn's idea. I'm just the transportation today. Although I must say I am enjoying the theatrics which have transpired thus far. Might I add, I am quite impressed with that arm of yours _and_ how well you handled shadow-travel, my dear. Most people become incredibly nauseous after their first try."

"Ask me how I feel _after_ the adrenaline wears off," Amberlynn replied offhandedly. "Back to subject, though. How _dare_ ye think ye can simply waltz into my life and instead of _asking_ if I would be interested in being part of your 'club,' ye just expect me to join in a heartbeat without even thinking about it? Where do ye get the gall to think so highly of yerselves?"

"How did you-Bunny! You said you would not be messenger for us!" North yelled at the Guardian of hope. Bunny's ears shot up and he raised his paws in protest. "What, you think I told her, ya big gumby? I haven't said a word to her since she left the Warren in one piece-which was also no thanks to you, mate! If anybody told her, it was the frostbite!"

"You thi-you honestly think that _I_ told her?" Jack objected. " _When,_ exactly, do you think I would have had _time_ to drop the news on her? Hmm?"

Amberlynn looked to Pitch and they both rolled their eyes as the Guardians continued to bicker back and forth. Fed up with all the arguing, Amberlynn cut them off and said, "Oh quit yer mouthin' off to each other, will ye? It was Pitch who told me. Jack and Bunny, I'm not mad at ye fer not tellin' me, I'm just disappointed. As for _you two_ …"

Amberlynn stormed toward both North and Tooth, charcoal-grey eyes glowing with a fury to match the fiery flames they held. "You have exactly 5 seconds to explain to me what was going on in yer minds to think kidnapping me and imprisoning me in _Santoff godforsaken Claussen_ would convince me I should join yer all-exclusive club I've wanted _no part in_ since my time as a spirit!"

Never, in Pitch's centuries of knowing North, has the old master of bribery _ever_ become so visibly nervous and at a loss for words as he was right this moment, and the King of Nightmares absolutely beamed with pride at Amberlynn and reveled in all the fear North radiated because of her.

North used his right sleeve to wipe the sweat off his brow, partially revealing the "Naughty" tattoo that was permanently inked onto his arm. He stammered, "I uhh, well, I'm not-not quite sure how Pitch Black knew, but it seems we have slight problem…"

"Oh, ye don't say?" Amberlynn interrupted, unamused. North feebly attempted to make a cohesive statement. "You don't, you think you know why you are chosen Guardian, but you do not understand grand plan of-"

"Oh, Man in Moon?" Amberlynn cut him off. "Actually, I've become pretty familiar with 'good old Manny' and his way of 'granting such an honor' to any particular spirit who might have powers that he finally decides can be put to _his_ personal use... _all_ fer the sake of the children! Or so he says. Did I cover it just about right, Pitch?"

Pitch steered Onyx to fly him down next to the summer spirit. As he carefully dismounted the mare to approach Amberlynn, he scoffed at the shock and offended gapes coming from the Guardians.

"To be fair," he began, "I never explained it to you with as much vocal loathing and sarcasm. However, that would indeed be an accurate painting of this picture, I agree." He bent down slightly and gently brushed his lips across the top of Amberlynn's head, just about making all the other spirits take a step back in shock...everyone that is, except for Bunny. He merely rolled his eyes at the public display of affection.

"As much as I support 'stirring the pot,' so to speak," Amberlynn quietly warned Pitch. "If ye pull another PDA stunt like that again I'll just as easily reopen the hole in yer abdomen that I stitched back up."

Though he quickly stood upright, Amberlynn rolled her eyes when she saw that the devious smile never left Pitch's face.

"Oi, can we back up for _just a minute_ here, mates?" Bunny asked, finally breaking the silence among the Big Five. What in the _bloody hell_ are you talking about, shelia? MiM is not just some spirit who chooses to twist and meddle with the affairs of others for his own benefit." He shot dagger eyes at Pitch, who merely shrugged the nameless accusation away.

"Are you sure about that, Bunny?" Amberlynn asked. "Let's review for a second: before Jack was 'chosen,' you four were all chosen for what purpose? To keep Pitch Black at bay. Not that he didn't _entirely_ deserve it, to be fair," she added, lightly jabbing him in the side (and silently grateful she elbowed the not-recently-stitched-up side).

"Literally, all you spirits have done _since_ becoming Guardians is make sure Pitch Black doesn't get 'too powerful' for MiM's standards. Before Jack Frost got thrown into yer lives-literally-when was the last time ye did _anything_ directly with the children? I'm not too keen of mortals meself and I can bet yer arse I've spent more time in the last 10 years with them then ye lot _combined_ have in the last 200! Correct me if I'm wrong. I understand ye have taken a liking to the children of Burgess, where Jack resides, but tell me. With the exception of Frost, have any of ye recently spent time with other children of the world, _truly_ getting to know them?"

Their silence was more than enough confirmation. She continued, "Don't try to tell me this whole 'glorious plan' nonsense is all fer the children if ye can't stand here and give me one recent instance where ye truly spent time with any o'yer believers."

For extra measure she added, " _Especially_ don't try to tell me that the Moon, whose source of light is a reflection off the _Sun_ , knows what's best for a _diurnal_ spirit. Honestly, I can't believe _none_ of ye could figure that one out. I am a daughter of the Sun...a _sun spirit_! I was chosen by the Sun, I work mostly during the day! Except for Jack because, well let's face facts he doesn't abide by _anybody's_ rules"-Jack shrugged and nodded in agreement-"what other spirit chosen by the Moon do you know of that predominantly functions in the day? And vice versa with Sun spirits? Awfully bold of him, really, to think he can just 'choose' me and think I'll accept it. I don't know what he had to gain by that bloody awful move on his part."

Bunny sighed and dropped his head. "Okay, I'll give you that one, sheila. I don't even pretend to try to know or understand Manny's motivations. But right now, Guardian or no Guardian, we do need your help."

"Oh, _there's_ a surprise," Pitch muttered. "What did I do this time, rabbit? Did I survive my last encounter with you too soon? I'll make sure to teach Frost to aim so he doesn't miss next time."

"As tempting of an offer as that is," Bunny shot back, "Right now we have an _actual_ , imminent threat." Pitch snarled, but otherwise kept silent (it may or may not have had to do with the death glare Amberlynn sent his way).

"I'm not saying I will do anything," Amberlynn began, "but I'm listening. Since we are all here anyway, what threat was _so important_ that ye had to kidnap me fer all those weeks ago? One that, evidently, is so imminent a threat that nothing has even happened yet after nearly a _month_ of said kidnapping."

Bunny sighed and pulled out a piece of parchment to give to the summer spirit. Amberlynn unfolded the paper and shared an edge with Pitch. While the Nightmare King immediately scoffed in disbelief, Amberlynn frowned in confusion. _I know I have seen this before, but where?_ There remained nothing on the paper but 7 dots with lines connecting them together in almost a zigzag pattern, but it was not a zigzag. The 3 larger lines were appearing to curve upward with the motion of the dots. It was so random, yet Amberlynn _knew_ she recognized this symbol.

"You're joking," Pitch said to the Guardians. "Believe me when I say it's impossible." Giving up on the game, Amberlynn looked at Pitch and asked, "What's impossible, and _where_ have I seen this before?"

"Imagine, if you will," Pitch replied as he held the parchment up, "a cloudless summer sky around midnight in the northern hemisphere. If I remember what you taught me, this should lie just to the side of the Twins like so." He held it up to approximately where he envisioned it would be if the parchment were, in fact, part of the stars.

Amberlynn lightly chuckled in realization. Adjusting Pitch's arms a few inches to the left, she said, "First of all, the lynx constellation would fall about here with that description. Second, why am I being given a pop quiz on the night sky? Third, what is impossible and why is it impossible?"

"That's not just a constellation," Bunny explained. "It is the insignia of Lynx, one of the oldest spirits on the earth. Not by a lot, but he's even older than Sandy here if I recall, right mate?" Sandy shook his head and spun three small images of sand over his head to indicate the age rank: Pitch, Sandy, and-Amberlynn presumed the unknown figure to be-Lynx.

"Lynx is big time trouble," North continued. "Even worse than Pitch Black." Amberlynn and Pitch both rolled their eyes but let the Guardians continued. "You are familiar with Ice Age, no? Lynx may not have been _initial_ cause, but he is single-handedly responsible for it lasting as long as it did."

"Wonderful!" Amberlynn quipped. "So he's just some psychopath equivalent of Jack, that is if Frosty the Snowman over here decided to do steroids or something to retain that much power."

"Oh yes, because I _want_ to go on an environmental killing rampage and cause an eternal winter all over the world," Jack retorted. Bunny coughed. "That didn't stop ya from causing Blizzard of '68, mate," he muttered.

Amberlynn air-high fived Bunny and agreed. "He has a point there, Frosty. But what is that supposed to do with me? I don't know if ye noticed, but ye lot just about _killed_ me in Santoff Claussen, what do ye want me to do with Mr. Ice Giant over here?"

Pitch instinctively stepped in front of Amberlynn, putting distance between her and the Guardians. "Never mind that," he said. "Let's not forget the minor detail that it's _impossible_! Do I need to remind you he has been trapped in isolation in an impenetrable prison for the past 11 _thousand_ years?"

From out of nowhere, dark green vines popped out of the ground and entwined themselves completely and tightly around Pitch, causing him to instinctively yell out in pain from the still relatively fresh stitches. The wind vigorously picked up ( _oh no,_ Amberlynn and Jack simultaneously thought) and a harsh voice screeched, "PITCH BLACK!"

 **Ffynhonnell-sprite**


	15. Chapter 15

The winds swirled in every direction, causing loose debris to be picked up and tossed about throughout Toothiana's palace. Even Nicholas St. North struggled to remain balanced on his feet against the force of the storm, stabbing his broadsword into the ground to attempt to use as stability against it. Against her better judgment, Amberlynn fought her way against the wind back to Pitch's direction and grabbed hold of one of the vines which held him captive.

Lighting a small fire in the hand that was holding the vine, the summer spirit disintegrated Pitch's entrapment. Immediately upon his release, he tumbled into her arms, knocking both of them to the ground. As perfect of an opportunity as it was for Amberlynn to tease Pitch about his less-than-dignified fall and current position, there was a slightly bigger problem at hand.

"What did ye do to piss off Mother Nature?" Amberlynn screamed against the howling of the wind. Ensuring that none of the other spirits could hear him, he brought his face close to Amberlynn's ear and replied, "There is definitely a shorter list of what I _haven't_ done, but I can assure you I have no idea what I did to incur her wrath this time."

As the winds slowly started to calm down, Amberlynn knew they were nearing the eye of the storm-er, Mother Nature. Amberlynn and Pitch scrambled to their feet, with Pitch taking the young spirit's hand to help her up, just as the woman of the hour came down. Before Pitch could help Amberlynn completely to her feet, Mother Nature blew a force of wind between them, pushing Amberlynn further away and forcing Pitch against one of Tooth's gilded columns.

Mother Nature pinned Pitch against the column with one arm completely across his throat and the other arm holding some sort of small dagger. _I've never seen Mother Nature act this way before_ , Amberlynn thought with genuine concern for both elder spirits. Pitch was, surprisingly, not fighting back save for attempting to push the nature spirit's arm back enough so that he could breathe. Mother Nature, on the other hand, was an entirely different animal all her own.

Her jet black hair remained strewn about from the storm she created and her golden eyes were nearly black from how dilated Mother Nature's pupils had become in her rage. The normally scarily calm, collected face which merely resorted to intense staring contests to scare her subordinates was contorted in fits of unimaginable rage and...hatred? _I mean, I know Pitch has created many enemies,_ Amberlynn wondered, _but why does_ she _hate him?_

It just didn't add up to Amberlynn. While she was grateful for the neutral rule in the Guardians-vs-Pitch battles (not that it was that difficult for Amberlynn to abide by), she couldn't imagine how someone could be so adamant in her own neutrality rule yet harbor such deep hatred and resentment for one of the parties involved. Sure, the Guardians piss her off-hence, the entire show she put on not too long ago-but she simply couldn't muster the energy to bear the amount of pure, unadulterated loathing that bears on her elder spirit's face right now. What confused her even more was the look on Pitch's face. It was a familiar look, one she knows she has seen, but couldn't quite pinpoint exactly where or when…

Finally getting to her feet, the summer spirit rushed toward Mother Nature and Pitch as Mother Nature growled, "Where...is...he?" Taking advantage of the older spirit's distraction, Amberlynn sent a small wave of fire towards her, forcing Mother Nature just far away enough to relieve Pitch of the constricted throat.

Upon her release of him, the Nightmare King fell to his knees, coughing and gasping for breath. Amberlynn rushed to his side as quickly as she could. Gently feeling his waist to ensure there were no popped stitches, she brought one arm over her shoulder and gently helped him back on his feet.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Amberlynn yelled at Mother Nature, not caring at this moment in time that she is her superior. Mother Nature's golden irises constricted as she squinted at the young, summer spirit. Upon seeing the perfectly golden orbs, a light bulb within Amberlynn's own head began to flicker, but she didn't quite yet know what the exact connection was.

Mother Nature warned, "You would do best to watch that tone, Sommers. I know not where you get such gall to speak so outright against me, _or_ undo my own work without my permission, for that matter. But it will serve you well to hold that tongue."

"Forgive me, but as you are the one who taught me how to destroy living things, it came pretty second nature to see you and want to disintegrate something," Amberlynn retorted. _Oh sweet celestial heavens, Sommers, shut up!_ she internally screamed at herself. Pitch said nothing, though his brows shot up in surprise as well as the Guardians'. The young summer spirit almost forgot they were even still here until she saw Bunny doubled over from trying to not laugh too loudly.

Mother Nature's golden eyes stared into the depths of Amberlynn's charcoal grey eyes as she muttered, "Very well. I have more important matters to attend to, Sommers, but this _will not_ be forgotten."

Turning her attention back to Pitch, she asked yet again, "Where is he, Black? Where is Lynx?"

Lynx? This drew everyone's attention. The Guardians all gathered to one side of Mother Nature while Amberlynn and Pitch were on her other side. Raising just one brow in confusion, Pitch replied, "In his cage in Alaska...where he has remained for the last 11 _thousand_ years. Where else would he be?"

Mother Nature opened up a side pocket in her forest green dress and threw some black sand at the Nightmare King. "Really?" she challenged, "Look familiar? Because when I went there just a few hours ago for my routine inspection, the side of his cavern _completely_ crumbled, _no_ Lynx anywhere in site, _and_ a small pile of nightmare sand as a reminder that one way or another, _you_ managed you get yourself involved in this. Of course, why does that not surprise me? You've just set a genocidal sociopath _loose_!"

"No, that's...that's impossible!" Pitch countered. Though it was subtle enough she's sure none of the other spirits noticed, Amberlynn felt Pitch tighten up ever so slightly from the physical pain he endured. _This was a mistake. I never should have let Pitch come here in his condition._ She gently squeezed her hand that still held Pitch's left arm which hung over her shoulder, silently letting him know that he could lean on her.

Readjusting his weight to put less of it on his right side, Pitch continued, "The last encounter I had with him resulted in me sending my Nightmares upon him to do their worst." A slight twinge of shame came over him-not for what he had done, but rather for what Amberlynn must think of him now-when he heard the redhead slightly gasp. "It would be a miracle if his head stays screwed on after an endeavor like that. There's no way his sanity remained for his own sake, let alone that he could come up with a plan to escape."

"Well congratulations, then," Mother Nature barked. "You've just set a genocidal, sociopathic _madman_ -who was _singulalry_ responsible for the Ice Age being as destructive as it was, shall I remind you-free! Now he is laying low and I don't know where he has run off to."

Mother Nature turned and stared down Amberlynn. It was for but a moment, but it was the longest, coldest moment of discomfort to ever course through the summer spirit's veins. Mother Nature then turned her head slightly to look at Pitch, sending an equally powerful silent message, but one Amberlynn couldn't quite pick up or understand. It wasn't until she looked back and forth between the two spirits did she finally realize.

The light bulb in her head finally turned on. _Those golden eyes!_ she realized. _I should've recognized them anywhere! And the hatred from Mother Nature to Pitch, it...it all makes sense! That look on Pitch's face...that's the pain of a parent who has lost his child if I_ ever _saw a look!_

Before Amberlynn has much more time to process her newfound epiphany, Bunny interjected and asked, "So did ya come all this way to yell at Pitch, sheila? Not that I'd stand in your way mind you. But was that the only purpose of making it here or would you like some help in finding this loony?"

Mother Nature hung her head low, letting her solid black hair fall in front of her pale, slightly rosy-cheeked face. Through clenched teeth, she muttered, "As much as I hate to ask for it, _especially_ from you, I very nearly lost my life to him the first time around and I honestly don't know if I can do it on my own this time. And I most _certainly_ can't have my seasonal spirits try to fight him off, so what is the plan?"

"Wait, what do you mean you can't have your seasonal spirits try to fight him off?" Amberlynn asked, slightly taken aback. _Not that I even_ wanted _any part in it, but I now have no say from_ either _side?_ This is the second time today that she has heard she was _expected_ to do something and she didn't like the way it sat with her.

"Hold up now, sheila," Bunny argued. "You literally barged in here with an actual, _physical_ firewall to get our attention to let us know you want no part in this and now you want in? I'm not even gonna _pretend_ to understand your mindset tonight."

"I don't like being told what I can and can't do," Amberlynn stiffly retorted. "I don't want to be told I have to sit on the sidelines, but I most _certainly_ don't want to be forced to become a Guardian. _Especially_ when that quid pro quo requires me to risk my life for some psycho!"

Mother Nature straightened her posture at the word "Guardian." She marched over to where North stood, pointed a stiff finger at the Guardian, who now had shed his fur coat (whether from heat or nerves, Amberlynn couldn't tell), and warned, "I thought I made it _extremely_ clear to Tsar Lunar what he can do with that 'selection' process of his for his Guardians. I haven't made a personal trip up to visit him since shortly after _you_ were chosen, Nicholas, but you damn well better believe I'll make an exception if he keeps violating our agreement. As much as I hate it, I will accept help from you Guardians, but Jack Frost is _absolutely forbidden_ to be part of this. Do we understand each other?

"As for you," Mother Nature added, turning to address Pitch, "I couldn't care less whom you choose to bed. But so help me if Amberlynn is involved in anything to do with Lynx, I will make your life a living hell so long as I am alive."

Amberlynn's jaw dropped in utter shock while Pitch's jaws remained clenched, though she noticed he did that eye twitch again. The original four Guardians awkwardly stood off to the side, unsure of what to say or how to even begin to proceed with anything. Jack was too busy focusing on the fact that he had just been benched-for whatever is about to go down-to even pay attention to what snide comment just transpired moments ago.

As Mother Nature approached the edge of the cliff, she turned to the seven spirits behind her and ordered, "I will return again soon, but until then, protect my seasonal spirits," before she disappeared into the clouds above.


	16. Chapter 16

**Happy New Year, everybody! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and here is chapter 16 up and running! And as always, I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

"What...the bloody hell...was that?" Amberlynn asked. Still helping Pitch lean onto her for support, she searched the eyes of the Guardians, looking for an answer of _some_ kind from one of them.

North shrugged his red overcoat back on and reached into one of his pockets for a snowglobe before he answered, "Easy. Bunny, Tooth, Sandy, and I meet with Mother Nature for plan to defeat Lynx. Jack, why don't you go spend some time in Burgess for a while?"

Jack's eyebrows shot up in shock, then immediately furrowed in anger at what was just said. "And just like that you are going to listen to what Mother Nature has to say?!" He ran his hands through his short, white hair before grabbing hold of his staff in a deathlock-grip. "Oh no, you are _not_ going to bench me for this one!"

"Whoa! Easy there with that staff, Frost!" Amberlynn squeaked, floating a few inches above the floor. In a fit of anger, the winter spirit had slammed his staff to the ground, causing ice to spread across the entire length of the cliff.

"Sorry," he muttered before undoing all the ice he just caused. He turned back to North and demanded, "Just give me one good reason why a winter spirit shouldn't be there to fight another winter spirit? I'd have the least likely chance of actually _dying_ out there that anyone has, given my immunity to the cold. Hello, winter spirit here!"

"Not only is your 'logic' flawed with so many fallacies," Pitch answered, "but I can give you at least three good reasons why Mother Nature has just forbidden you from joining in on the battle. Let us begin with your lack of experience as a fighter."

"I'm sorry," Jack interrupted, rather unapologetically, "but didn't your last battle with me result in you looking like...well, like a worse-off version of this." He gestured toward Pitch's current state, trying to prove his point, but Pitch let out a low, dark chuckle. "And that's where you're in trouble, Frost. When you were fighting honorably, you couldn't distinguish a right hook from a plie. It wasn't until you got to my level and began fighting dirty that any progress was made with you. I don't think you have it in you to play foul for as long as you would need to against him."

Pitch held up two fingers, signaling transition to his next point. "Furthermore, I should have recognized my own trick anywhere from that night. That little stunt of yours came after watching one of _my_ moves. The one that I most definitely recall put an end to Sanderson's existence over here...for however _brief_ of a time it may have been." Sandy balled up his fists and slowly created sand whips, preparing for something to arise but Amberlynn side-eyed the Nightmare King, insisting he continue on with his point.

"Lynx is a conniving, manipulative son of a bitch who doesn't know the meaning of 'fair play,'" Pitch stated, "but he is clever. Too clever for anyone's good. He seldom uses the same tactics twice. I can count on one hand the number of spirits who have had the fortune to live long enough to witness him duplicate even one of his fighting styles...and two of them are in this very room. Let that sink in for a moment."

The tooth palace eerily and suddenly dropped of all hint of noise. A single pin could be heard from miles away while the Guardians all pondered what was just said to them, but Pitch didn't let it last long. "Finally," he added, "While you might also be a winter spirit and not _as_ susceptible to what Lynx may have up his sleeve, you _are_ in fact still a seasonal spirit in spite of your Guardian status."

Upon the Guardians' blank stares, with the exception of Sandy, both Pitch and Amberlynn facepalmed. "Honestly," he sneered, "It's quite amazing you lot bother to do MiM's bidding without _any_ sort of knowledge being given to you. And really, how generous of him to leave you vulnerable on _both_ ends, Frost. Not only are you conditionally immortal now based on the belief of children as a Guardian, but you have _never_ been truly immortal because you are not completely immune to the effects of other seasonal spirits."

After noticing Pitch's breathing begin to stagger, Amberlynn decided to attempt to speed things up and add, "Think about it from even your guys' own history with Pitch over here. Sandy is easily Pitch's most vicious rival out of you five because they are natural opposites. Dreams versus Nightmares. It's a natural rivalry that has been in place since any of us were really chosen as spirits. But Pitch was able to get rid of Sandy the most easily _because_ of that link."

Bunny's ears perked up as he took a step forward. "Oi, sheila, when did Miss Neutral become so well-adapted to our history with this bloke? I thought ya wanted to steer clear of this whole mess."

The summer spirit raised an eyebrow at her old companion. "Are ye finished now, Bunny? I am looking at this _objectively_ and trying to explain to you what Moony up there so clearly _neglected_ to mention to ye lot. I'm not sayin' any particular party was at fault or not, but this is merely what happened. After he kidnapped all the tooth fairies, Pitch knew his best luck would be to take out his biggest foe, his _natural_ enemy, before he played with the Guardian clause in that old book of yours. It wasn't until after his biggest threat was eliminated for the time being that he even began to have any kind of success-oh don't give me that look, Pitch! We all know that Easter in Burgess was not a success for you."

"Except for one small problem in this whole speech of yours, Amberlynn," Jack argued. "If the only way to truly stop a seasonal spirit is with _another_ seasonal spirit, then we should be on the front lines!"

"You're missing the vital detail where practically no other seasonal spirits who have fought Lynx have survived to tell the tale," Pitch groaned. Though Amberlynn knew it was out of pain ( _I have got to get him out of here,_ she thought), he played it off as if it were from annoyance. "Mother Nature wasn't lying when she said it very nearly cost her life to imprison Lynx the first time around. It took a combined force of her, myself, Sanderson, and seven other seasonal spirits whose names I can guarantee none of you know, but you know their initials by the rainbow spectrum. We imprisoned Lynx 11 millennia ago. After Mother Nature, the oldest surviving seasonal spirits are the twins Flora and Fauna, who became spirits 10 millennia ago."

Amberlynn was for certain that it must be a sign of the apocalypse, for she witnessed something she thought would never happen. The sandman and the boogeyman both looked at each other briefly before bowing their heads simultaneously in a moment of silence, silently mourning the loss of mutual comrades. After the brief silence, Pitch raised a hand up to summon one of his Nightmares over.

Once he steadied himself beside the mare, he lent a hand to Amberlynn to jump up onto its back. Before Pitch climbed up, he warned, "Despite our...differences, I am powered by the fear of _people_. If we let Lynx gain control, he can and will use his power ensure that there is not a single living creature left who _can't_ survive the harsh winters he intends to bring. I can't very well survive on this miserable excuse of a planet off of fear if there is no one to bring fear to. We _need_ to take him down and we need to do it as soon as we find him, by any means necessary. We will meet again." Without further ado, Pitch mounted the mare as both he and Amberlynn left the Guardians without a trace.


	17. Chapter 17

**Whaaaaat? Another chapter in less than a week? Consider this my making up for being late on uploading chapters as well as an apology that I probably won't get to do another one for a while (sorry! DX). But anyway, I kept going back and forth on whether to split this chapter into 2 smaller chapters or keep it one long chapter, and the long chapter won out! Hope you guys enjoy and, as always, I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

Amberlynn must admit steering the Nightmare was much easier than she expected it to be. Who knew merely threatening to turn it to glass if she didn't take both her and Pitch to Death Valley would result in her getting what she wanted? Ensuring a smooth landing, though, was a different matter.

Amberlynn lost her balance, taking a dive toward the sand, until Pitch instinctively reached his arm out to wrap around the redhead's waist. He quickly pulled her back onto the mare's back to steady her, but received an unintentional elbow to the waist as his reward.

"Oh sweet, celestial heavens, Pitch!" Amberlynn gasped when she realized what she had done. Without further ado she hopped off the mare and helped him off, though with a little less grace. He muttered, "Why on Earth did Onyx-"

"Treatment now, questions later!" Amberlynn ordered while she lit a small fire on the ground between them. "I need the tunic off so I can see the damage we-er, I-put ye through." As she helped him shrug off his tunic, she immediately saw the cause of his immense pain. The entire right side of his abdomen had a slightly pink hue that grew redder and redder right to the source where she originally stitched up the boogeyman.

Mother Nature must have initially popped out Pitch's stitches when she led her full-on attack against him, and the summer spirit was _confident_ all the beatings he had taken since did not help the matter. Not only did every single one of his stitches come undone, revealing the new layer of skin which had begun to heal, but the wound opened up lengthwise, giving Amberlynn all the more for her to stitch this second time around.

Pitch looked upon his injury with disgust, but not for the reason Amberlynn initially thought. He grumbled, "At least we now know _what_ exactly led to the Guardians seeing me at my weakest." Before Amberlynn replied to that remark, she turned to face the Nightmare who still dutifully stood nearby and commanded, "You and yer friends who brought all of the supplies I needed last time? I'll be needin' those again tonight."

As she whipped her head around to face her patient, the summer spirit remarked, "Yer real weakness is yer pride that'll do ye in. In regards to the injury, though, I'm honestly surprised ye held up as well as ye did. I've heard of many men biting the bullet, but more out of necessity rather than pride. Besides the obvious gash, how do ye feel?"

Now that he was out of sight of any other spirits, he lowered his head and slouched (as low as he could without agonizing pain) before he answered, "Honestly, I'm rather irritated Onyx didn't take us straight to my lair. I don't know how or why she came here first, although I suspect you might have something to do with that, my dear. Whether you call it pride or not, I'm infuriated the Guardians saw me in such a weakened state. And I can't quite put a name to this last emotion but if I am to be honest with you, Amberlynn Sommers, it has everything to do with Moth-"

Before Pitch finished that sentence, a small team of Nightmares quickly approached the two, bringing with them all of the supplies that Amberlynn had requested from them the last time she gave him stitches. Amberlynn rolled her eyes at the mares' refusal to step any closer to the fire than they already were, so she stood up and gathered all the supplies from Pitch's cowardly bunch.

"I swear," she muttered. "Ye threaten _one_ time to turn these bunch o'fillies into glass or banish them from existence, and they _steer clear_ of the small fire. Why, this little bugger can barely burn a twig let alone an entire team of Nightmares!"

Pitch lightly chuckled. "Now I _know_ you are the reason Onyx brought us here." As she knelt down next to him, a devious smile played across her face.

"Who would've thought it'd be as easy as it is to bring fear to living embodiments of fear?" she snickered. "Don't worry, yer secret's safe with me that yer team's a bunch of llwfrgi. Besides, fresh air will be good for ye so you're not stuck there with only _their_ pretty little faces to stare at while ye rest." The remaining Nightmares huffed in indignation, but Amberlynn merely laughed at their malcontent.

After she finished stitching up Pitch, Amberlynn's face sombered for a moment and, after hesitating, decided to speak what was on her mind. She looked at Pitch and suggested, "Ye might want to remain lying down. I-I think I can take a guess at that last feeling of yers that ye mentioned earlier. Ye talk in yer sleep a lot and, I never really connected anything until today."

Pitch couldn't figure her out. He couldn't sense any fear coming from the young summer spirit regarding what she was about to bring up, but he also didn't understand why she was so hesitant to say whatever it was she was trying to say.

He raised a curious brow, but before he could ask any questions, Amberlynn asked, "Have you, have you ever wondered where I learned all the things I know? From anatomy to the constellations, to just about anything that's not common spirit knowledge?"

Understanding the direction this was going, but not entirely sure why the change in topic, he nodded. "Yes, Amberlynn, the thought has crossed my mind on multiple occasions."

"G-Gwyn," she coughed out. "Wow, I haven't spoken that name in years. But anyway, that was my mortal name, when I learned all of this. Gwyneth Rhys, to be exact. And I...and I became a spirit in the late summer of 1836."

* * *

" _Gwyn, where are ye hiding?" A young, spritely woman in her early twenties with sandy brown hair peaked her head into her family's rickety old barn. As she walked inside, passing each stall with an eagle-eye for the missing redhead, she finally encountered her target._

 _Gwyneth Rhys remained perched on the small loft overhead, sitting in a pile of hay next to a pale, freckly boy with dirty blonde hair and striking green eyes. As she turned her head at the sound of her name, she smiled and called, "Oh hush yer worrying, Caitrin! I'm 19, nearly to be married, and ye_ still _can't stop fussing over my whereabouts. Ye see that, Aeron? Yer mam is always fer the dramatic. If she can't find me right away, I must be hiding from her!" She leaned in and whispered to her nephew, "Although, could ye blame me much if I did?"_

 _Aeron giggled, but Caitrin huffed and objected, "I am not always dramatic! What sort of trouble are ye children causing up there anyway? Ye're not hiding a well up there from us now, are ye?"_

" _Now give yer chwaer bach a_ little bit _of credit," Gwyn teased as she climbed down the ladder. "If I found a well in this miserable drought, I very well wouldn't hide it up in this smelly old barn of ours. I'd hide it someplace much more friendly to the nose-like the outhouse!"_

 _Caitrin laughed and shook her head at her sister in disbelief. After Gwyneth helped Aeron down, she continued, "In all honesty, I was helping patch him up a bit. That old floorboard got loose again and a nail nearly came clean through his foot! Brave little soldier, though. Nary a tear came out of his eyes. Mam-gu, on the other hand, would have dropped dead from shock if she heard what I heard come out of this young man's mouth when I walked past."_

 _Caitrin looked down at her son, debating whether or not to lash him after finding out this news. Sensing her sister's internal argument, Gwyneth said, "Ah don't ye worry 'bout it. After having a nail_ this long _-" she spread her finger and thumb out almost as far as they could go to emphasize the length of it- "I reckon the boy has earned his free pass to merely repeat words his tad and ewythr use on the daily while out plowing the fields."_

 _After a short staring contest between the sisters, Caitrin sighed and knelt down to examine her son. Still not taking her eyes off him, she replied, "Very well, but when Michael comes over fer supper, have him take a thorough look at Aeron. Heaven knows we can't afford to lose any abled bodies,_ especially _with this unforgiving heat."_

" _Cait, ye_ know _Michael has taught me everything he knows about medicine," Gwyneth argued. "One of the many reasons I love that man so. Even if it originally was out of necessity more than anything else that he train his nurse more. But I promise everything I did, Michael wouldn't have done any other way."_

" _That may be, but yer name does not have 'doctor' behind it," Caitrin countered. "Please, just let yer fiance take a look at it before he comes fer supper. Which also reminds me why I went looking fer ye in the first place: Aren't ye supposed to be working right now? Grab a horse and go into town!"_

* * *

" _Thank ye again fer promising to ease Cait's mind about Aeron," Gwyneth told Michael During their afternoon stroll. Most of the patients scheduled for the day had been seen and the two were out for their "supervised" stroll that day. As Gwyn reminded Caitrin of the numerous nights she was in charge of "chaperoning" her and her now-husband while they were courting, she figured Cait owed her one-or several-free passes. True to her word, while Cait technically kept Gwyn and Michael within her sight, the duo were so far ahead that to their chaperone they were barely but a pair of silhouettes in the summer sky._

 _Michael gently squeezed Gwyn's hand as he replied, "It makes things so much easier when the woman who treats my patient is as good as any doctor I've ever met. Heh, I truly had my foot in my mouth when I refused to believe Dr. Guttenberg about relying on you for help, didn't I?"_

" _Michael Cook with his foot in his mouth?" Gwyn teased with mock surprise. "Ye mean when ye first barged through his door, fresh out of medical school, ready to take on such an 'uncivilized' town all on yer own? And that the only thing ye'd need a nurse fer is to dust, mop, and stoke the fire?"_

 _Michael blushed a deep shade of scarlet, but he laughed. "And let us not forget the first day_ immediately _after Dr. Guttenberg retired when the men from the saloon crashed their wagon. There was so much blood, pieces of wagon were sticking every which way in our patients, and all except maybe two of them needed to be treated right away!"_

" _Oh, I remember when you had to swallow yer pride and ask for extra hands, all right!" Gwyneth howled. "I was at the clinic cleaning up when ye lot came bursting in, carting our drunken friends onto as many tables as ye could find. And when I came in the back ye asked, 'How well can ye handle blood and other unsightly things?' Do ye remember what I said to ye?"_

 _By now, Michael doubled over, wrapping his arms around his waist from laughing so hard. "Oh, my love, how could I forget? You told me, 'As far as blood is concerned, I'm looking at this lot right now and am not bothered by it. And as far as 'unsightly things,' I see_ you _on a regular basis, do I not?' Though my stupid brain didn't know it at the time, I am pretty sure that was the moment I fell in love with you, Gwyneth Rhys."_

 _Gwyn blushed, but eagerly wrapped her arms around Michael's neck as he leaned forward to kiss her, placing his hands around her waist. Separating from her face by mere centimeters, he said, "You actually could do it, you know. You have more than enough skills for it."_

" _I'm not sure to what ye're referring, but I do enjoy where this is going," Gwyn replied with a devious smile. Despite Michael fighting to hide his smile and his dark crimson blush growing across his face, he physically separated himself from her and sat her down on the grass._

" _As much as I rather prefer where your mind went over mine," he replied, "I was talking about medical school. You're a brilliant student, you already know more material than many students near matriculation, and you even have the enviable quick, steady hands of_ any _surgeon or barber I ever knew!"_

 _Gwyneth nervously laughed, unsure of what to make of this recommendation. She asked, "Is this in jest? The thought of a woman doctor! Oh, Michael, ye certainly know how to make me laugh, that's fer sure!"_

 _When her fiance didn't reciprocate in her humor, Gwyneth laid back in the grass in silence for a moment, thinking over what he had said._

" _Huh, a female doctor," she wondered. "I mean, I have learned more than I ever thought I would learn, between you and Dr. Guttenberg. And this town being as prone to nearly-fatal incidents as we seem to be certainly helps all of us learn rather quickly. But I don't know, Michael. I think that barbaric governor riding on his holier-than-thou horse would sooner prohibit slavery in Missouri than accept a woman doctor to practice here. I think Orion up in the night sky would literally drop his belt from the celestial heavens before a woman doctor is accepted."_

 _Michael raised his arms in surrender. As he stood up he replied, "If you truly feel that way, I won't push you, love. Who knows? The world is changing remarkably fast. Anything is possible here, right?"_

 _Accepting the hand Michael held out, Gwyn stood next to him and replied, "Ye're right. Anything is possible. And man will one day learn to fly, as well. I'll tell ye what. The day any of those things happen, whichever comes first, I will even start wearing breeches."_

" _I'm not entirely sure the world could handle two major incidents happening at once," Michael teased. "A woman wearing breeches? Now look who's using her imagination."_

 _Before they embraced again, Gwyneth heard the sound of harsh panting and hooves stomping on the dry, dead grass. Before Caitrin even made her way completely over to them, she gasped, "Fire! At the barn! Come quick! People are inside!"_

 _Gwyn and Michael ran as quickly as they could to their horses to ride back and help. The flames engulfed the entire roof of the barn, sending a horde of smoke to the sky. How she and Michael didn't notice it before, she'll never know. Just in case the unbearable late-summer drought wasn't enough, the heat radiating from the flames made Gwyn miss the much more tolerable hot and humid days before this drought. Amid all the panic of the adults scrambling, trying to free as many barn animals and salvage what they could, she rounded up all the children she could find to begin to count heads with Caitrin._

" _I see Delia, Arthfael, Emyr, Tegan, Adara, and...where's Aeron?" Cait squeaked. Caitrin tried screaming for her son's name, but she heard no answer back. At first Gwyn thought she misheard, but after listening again, she knew for certain that she still heard a voice in the barn._

" _Aeron!" Gwyn screamed. She began to run, but Caitrin grabbed onto her younger sister's arm. "I know ye are tryin' to help," she shouted against the roar of the fire, "but he is my son! I need to go after him!"_

" _Not while ye're pregnant, ye don't," Gwyneth shouted back. "I can count, Cait. Ye're nearly four months late! Take care of yer child that's here. I will go get Aeron! Ye need to keep this family together, keep the little ones safe!"_

 _Using the apron of her skirt to prevent the smoke from getting into her eyes, she bolted as quickly as she could into the barn, hearing only a delayed reaction of protest from her fiance once he saw what she was doing. "GWYNETH, NO!" he screamed, but she was already inside._

" _Sweet celestial heavens, it's hot in here! Aeron, where are ye?" Gwyn called out. The apron was next to useless in preventing her from breathing the thick smoke, the heat and smoke combination stung her eyes, and she was just about to doubt whether she truly even heard her nephew cry until she definitely heard him crying, "Help me, Aunt Gwyn! I'm scared!"_

 _Whether it was a curse or a miracle, she didn't know, but the ladder hadn't burned up yet, so she climbed to the loft where she heard his voice. He was by the shutters, trying to open it but struggling between the heat and coughing fits he was enduring. After seeing Gwyn, he stopped for a second and ran to her, clinging to her waist._

" _Don't let me die, Aunt Gwyn," he cried. "I didn't say goodbye to Mam or Tad." She hugged him fiercely and promised, "You are not going to die, Aeron. You will see yer parents tonight, love." Quickly untying her apron, she gave it to him to try to breathe through as she brought him to the edge of the loft where the ladder was-emphasis on the "was." How one lick of a flame managed to fall_ exactly _where the ladder stood so that it would get engulfed in flames, Gwyneth will never know. Running with Aeron back to the shutters, she quickly laid on her back by them long enough to kick them open._

" _We're up here!" Gwyneth screeched loudly enough she knew everyone could hear. Before she heard a reply from anyone, she wrapped Aeron completely around in her skirt as her back faced the open shutter. "I love ye, Aeron Geddings. Take care of yer Mam and siblings fer me," she whispered before she threw both of them out of the barn, with her back going down first._

* * *

 _Amberlynn couldn't remember hearing such a beautiful voice ever in her life before. Wait a minute, has she always called herself Amberlynn?_

" _My beautiful, selfless child," the voice called from the sky. No, not the sky, but the Sun. "You certainly are a fast one, that will be an important trait for you to keep. Amberlynn Sommers, Daughter of the Sun, you have been given a wonderful gift. A chance to help all humans, just as you selflessly rescued your nephew not too long ago._

" _You are now my summer spirit. I grant you the gift of warmth, fire, light, and most importantly, soon your memories." Her memories? What memories could she have possibly lost and why was she getting them back immediately after losing them? That seemed rather counterproductive to Amberlynn._

" _Because I am certain your death and coming to as a new spirit are quite a shock and unnerving," the Sun continued (almost like she could read Amberlynn's mind), "you will be under the guidance of Mother Nature. As a seasonal spirit, she is to whom you shall turn, as you are one of her many aides. But be aware: though I shall soon restore your memories, not all spirits are given the same fortunate gift. Some may not know who they once were as mortals while some do not wish to know. Given the nature of your gift, for both the potential of good and evil, I feel you will be able to judge best how to use your gift with your memories. Remember I do not give them back to punish you as a reminder of what has been lost, but rather to help guide you to find what you may gain. Farewell, Amberlynn Sommers."_

* * *

"After the Sun told me who I was but before I regained my memories," Amberlynn explained, "I couldn't _possibly_ imagine how remembering who I once was could be a punishment. But then, they all flooded back at once. First traveling to the United States, helping my mother as she gave birth to each of my younger brothers and sisters, first meeting my then-fiance, being proposed to...everything right down to the moment that led to my becoming Amberlynn Sommers."

While Pitch was lying on his side, Amberlynn was seated with her arms wrapped around her knees, hugging them close together. While she stared up at the sky, searching the constellations as if for an answer, it did not escape the King of Nightmare's attention that tears started to roll down her face. He held out an arm, beckoning her to be closer to him.

Wiping away the tears she didn't realize Pitch noticed, she dubiously asked, "Didn't I just patch you up a few minutes ago?" He shrugged and replied, "Then I recommend you don't elbow me, my dear. It hurts more to see you like this. I'm here for you."

Amberlynn shook her head and chuckled at his suggestion, but still let herself rest beside him. After she tucked all her hair under her neck to use as a makeshift pillow, Pitch brought his arm over her waist, holding her close.

"Do you know what the worst part was about my restored memories?" she asked. Feeling her slightly tremble, Pitch held her tighter.

"Seeing my family right after the fact. To this day I still don't know if I made the right choice to see them as soon as my memories were restored, but there's no changing the past now, is there? By the time I got the hang of flying and made it back to them, they were in the middle of my funeral. Now there's something ye don't expect to do, seeing yer own funeral. I will never forget the look on _any_ of their faces...Michael, Cait, Mam...or Tad."

Pitch stiffened. Amberlynn adjusted her body slightly so her back was against the sand and she could look up at him. Her charcoal grey eyes stared into Pitch's-which were at the moment mainly golden with specks of silver, Amberlynn noted. But as Pitch looked at her, he didn't see any accusation or resentment, but rather love...so much love with a hint of sadness behind them, he wasn't sure what to make of such raw, vulnerable emotion being directed toward him.

"You can say whatever you want about yourself," Amberlynn stated. "You may choose to believe the rumors other spirits spread about you. You can even act to others like you're some heartless monster. I won't even say a word otherwise unless you expressly wish it, as what I saw is something I'm sure even I wasn't meant to see."

Amberlynn raised a hand to cup Pitch's face, locking eyes with him. "But I saw the look ye gave Mother Nature back at Toothiana's palace. It was the _exact_ same look my father had at my funeral I knew I'd never forget. It's the look of a heartbroken man who lost a child. That's that last emotion ye couldn't quite find the words for, wasn't it?"

Pitch grabbed hold of Amberlynn's free hand and closed his eyes, gently kissing the back of her hand that he held. "How do you do this, Amberlynn Sommers?" he asked. "In a chance encounter, you _accidentally_ figure out my biggest secret-one I don't think even Sandman knows-and rather than use that knowledge to your advantage or even _pretend_ you didn't learn of it, you so openly and freely share your own life story with me... _just_ to let me know that you understood what you so recently discovered? I didn't think it was possible for me to fall even more in love with you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he heard a faint but audible gasp from the summer spirit. Amberlynn bit her lower lip and her cheeks flushed a dark red before she stammered, "You...you're in love with me?"

He took a deep breath and, with a genuine smile on his face, replied, "I am. Amberlynn Sommers, I love you-" He was cut short when the redhead wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a passionate kiss. When the two broke apart for a moment, she whispered, "I love you too, Pitch Black."

Pitch couldn't believe his ears. Never in his millennia of existing on this planet has he ever thought for a second he could either attain or even deserve this kind of happiness he felt at this moment in time. For the first time since...well, he honestly couldn't remember, but for the first time in a long while he felt like a whole new person. His heart was racing, his head was spinning, and for the first time he truly understood the mortals' phrase "butterflies in your stomach." And yet, for whatever reason, he couldn't wipe that stupid smile off his face. He couldn't even remember a time before Amberlynn where any of his smiles were truly from pure happiness rather than from mockery or masking cynicism.

He knew what he had to do next. Every fiber in his core as the Nightmare King fought it, internally screaming that it was a sign of weakness. He knew what his dark instincts were telling him to do: take all the pleasures, both emotional and physical, and keep it for himself. And yet, something inside of him also fought back against those dark feelings and, for whatever reason won over the dark.

Separating himself from the summer spirit, but still keeping her close, he said, "You told your story, Amberlynn. But now it is time that you know mine. The full story of the once-great Kozmotis Pitchiner of the Golden Age."

 **Ahhhh this chapter was so much fun to write! I was debating how in-depth to go (and still am, if I'm being honest) on Amberlynn's backstory from her time as Gwyneth Rhys. But anyway, hope you guys enjoyed and here are some of the Welsh terms I used in this chapter:**

 **Llwfrgi-cowards**

 **Chwaer bach-little sister**

 **Mam-gu-grandma**

 **Tad-father**

 **Ewyther-uncles**

 **Mam-mother**


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm baaaaaack! Thank goodness spring break is finally here and I can get back to Amberlynn and Pitch! Seriously, though, thank you to all my readers for being as awesome as you guys are and I am truly honored to share their story with you. As always, I do not own ROTG, just my OCs.**

"So, remind me again why you're actually agreeing to go along with this plan...and moreover why one of Lynx's _biggest_ threats can't come help take him down," Amberlynn said. After an entire morning spent with Amberlynn (which he wouldn't have had any other way…even if most of it _was_ so the summer spirit could let him heal back up), Pitch had summoned Onyx at dusk and was prepared to make his way to the Gobi Desert.

The King of Nightmares sighed. "Trust me, I don't want to do this anymore than you want to be left out of this. But I need to help Mother Nature and, unfortunately, she insisted the Guardians be in on this, too. If for no other reason than one of her own is a Guardian."

Both Pitch and Amberlynn rolled their eyes. "Besides," he continued, "both you and Frost are safest in the desert. Your powers both come from physical temperature while Lynx's come from water. Sure he's a winter spirit so he's no fool as to come near, say a boiling geyser, but if he finds even a drop of water in a river, he can freeze it solid faster than your head can spin."

The thought of _anything_ freezing that fast sent a sudden chill through Amberlynn's spine. Sensing her unspoken fear, Pitch dismounted from Onyx and held Amberlynn in the tightest hug he could possibly muster. Brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face, he lightly kissed her and said, "I won't let that happen, love. I would sooner die than let that monster come anywhere close to you, let alone take you."

Wiping away those pesky tears that seemed to come out of nowhere, she stammered, "I know—I know you mean that, but I need you—I need you to—to promise—I need you promise me something...just in case something _does_ happen."

"Nothing's going to happen—" Pitch began, but Amberlynn cut him off, "—But let's pretend something _does_ happen. I need you to do something for me."

"Very well, love," Pitch replied in defeat. "What do you need me to do?" Amberlynn looked at him and, using her most calm, rational medic voice, said, "When I was trapped in Santoff Claussen, I truly appreciated Jack and Bunny's efforts to keep me warm, but at most I had only developed a mild case of hypothermia up there. If Lynx is as dangerous as he seems, which I don't doubt, the same methods the Guardians used to warm me at North's workshop won't work in the _slightest_ against what could happen to my body, or anyone else's for that matter. Some of the steps involved will get very personal _very_ quickly, but I need to to follow _exactly_ everything I am about to teach you on how to treat _anyone_ who gets hypothermia from this upcoming fight. Can you do that?"

Pitch froze, but after a moment, took a breath and answered, "For you, my love, I will learn what you need me to help _anyone_ who is harmed by Lynx. What do I need to do?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey guys! This is such a bittersweet time for me right now, but I'm only a few chapters away from the end! I've mostly finished the story it's now just a matter of editing and tweaking as I go along before publishing the last handful of chapters. I can't thank you readers enough for being awesome, seriously! I do not own ROTGs just my OCs**

If Jack had to listen to Pitch aimlessly threaten someone's life _one more time_ , he swore he would lose his mind and shoot ice at someone, Lynx or no Lynx. The first time Jack lost his temper at the Gobi Desert during this meeting, he slammed his staff to get everyone's attention. Naturally, a little bit of ice shot out of his staff and sure enough he thought he saw the sign of the apocalypse. That was the first—and really only—time that Pitch, Mother Nature, and the other Guardians all agreed on one thing unanimously...but why did it have to be about them yelling at him over the ice from his staff?

"Honestly, Frost, it's almost as if you _have_ a suicide mission," Pitch sneered. "Bringing _any_ form of water into the desert. Could you be any more daft if you tried?"

"While Pitch over here needs to work on his basic manners," Mother Nature countered, sending dagger eyes to the boogeyman, "You truly do need to better control your temper... _especially_ if it results in giving Lynx _any_ sort of advantage on getting to you. We let you sit in on this meeting, a luxury Amberlynn Sommers was not given, and there's a reason we chose this desert - _for you_ \- to have this meeting."

"Yeah it's so great being here for the last 3 weeks doing nothing but arguing while a _sociopath_ is on the loose!" Jack pointed out. Sandy flashed symbols over his head in disagreement, pointing out the the earth is still at its normal, appropriate temperatures for each given region.

"Sandy makes excellent point," North stated. "Jack, if you have such difficulty listening in, why don't you do a perimeter sweep of our camp? _Without_ the staff so you don't draw attention to yourself!"

After debating whether leaving the hideout (North can call it what he wants but Jack sees it for how it really is) was worth going without his staff, Jack caved and gave his staff to Mother Nature before flying off.

* * *

Amberlynn couldn't quite decide how she felt about this "vacation/prison" of hers. On the one hand she hasn't felt so relaxed in such a long time, but on the other it was starting to drive her crazy. She hadn't seen another spirit or human in more weeks than she remembers and she almost started to feel a little sympathy for Lynx...almost.

"I'm going crazy after a few weeks alone," she muttered to nobody, "I can't even begin to imagine what solitary confinement for 11 _millennia_ would do to a spirit."

 _It surely does lead for one to go mad, does it not?_ a voice asked. Amberlynn whipped her head around in confusion. She had not sensed any intruder at Death Valley, yet why did she just hear a voice? It wasn't the voice of the Sun either, of that she was certain. Never mind the obvious difference that the Sun had a much more feminine voice than this one, but it also left a spirit with a light, warm feeling after talking to the Sun.

This left her insides feeling twisted, knotted, and...dare she say, cold. "No, it can't be, Sommers," she assured herself. "You're just starting to lose it because you need to talk to people again, soon." Despite what she kept telling herself, she slowly began dressing in much heavier layers than her shorts and tank top.

Starting with her lower extremities, she threw on some hosiery, a pair of leggings, a pair of thick, wool socks, and a heavy duty pair of jeans before lacing herself up in combat boots. In addition to the tank she was already wearing, she added a long-sleeved t-shirt, a green, plaid flannel shirt, a white vest, and—just to be thorough—the warmest winter coat she could find. After adding on a hat, scarf, and gloves, she couldn't help but laugh at herself.

"Oh, look at yourself, Amberlynn," she groaned. "You've _never_ been this skittish or paranoid before. Ye need to calm down, Sommers. Could you even _imagine_ all the unnecessary attention Pitch would be giving you over the fear you are radiating right now? Why, he'd just about have a conniption if he realized he wasn't here right now with ye."

 _That's roughly the idea, darling_ , that cold, creepy voice from nowhere said. Amberlynn could feel her heartbeat in her throat as her pulse raced faster and harder. Letting one hand carry a fireball slightly larger than that of a softball, she surveyed the land around her, taking note of every living creature within her radius.

"There's nary a living thing around me with _any_ capacity for speech," she tried to assure herself, though the flame in her hand only grew a little bit larger. "You would know if he was coming this way."

 _Would you, though?_ the voice asked. _My dear summer spirit, I am capable of doing_ so much more _than your wildest dreams could even begin to imagine._

Amberlynn felt that cold feeling in her spine, although this time around she knew it wasn't from nerves, but rather it was _much_ more literal and physical. _How is he doing this?!_ she wondered. _There's nothing here but some old cacti, dead shrubbery, a couple of locusts and scorpions, a badger, and_ …"Oh no!"

She looked into the sky and, though it was seemingly so small, there was indeed a single desert cloud floating up in the stratosphere. Before everything went dark, the voice whispered - actually whispered, rather than that creepy head trick he was doing - right in her ear, "Now you're starting to get it."


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys! Soooo it's officially my last day of spring break ( _internally cries incessantly over my upcoming classes and impending doom_ ). But anyway, here's Chapter 20! While I do have the story pretty much wrapped up on my laptop, I most likely won't be able to edit and publish as frequently as I have this past week because of classes starting again (so rude of the professors, making me choose actually passing classes over having fun posting stories XD). I'll try to post 2 chapters a month starting in April, but we'll see how well I actually stick with that schedule lol**

 **Anyway, you know the drill. I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

"I NEVER should have trusted you!" Pitch roared.

After a gut instinct in the boogeyman told him to race back to Death Valley, upon all the Guardians' bidding - as well as Mother Nature's - he remained at their campsite in the Gobi Desert. It wasn't until a couple hours had passed when Tooth noticed Jack's absence that the others became concerned. As they began searching for the young winter spirit, Sandman encountered a mound of sand which remained frozen, which prompted Pitch to immediately shadow-travel to Death Valley.

He searched every inch of the deserted area, screaming Amberlynn's name, with no answer back. He even sent his entire team of Nightmares throughout the region to cover more ground. By the time the Guardians and Mother Nature all made it to the desert, they found Pitch kneeling down next to a mound of sand, which somehow managed to remain frozen. While in the Gobi Desert, where it was cold enough that they could pretend to reason the frozen sand was nothing, this was Death Valley. Even at night, the temperatures still manage to be too hot for many mortals to comfortably stay outside. There was no ignoring of who was responsible for this.

North stepped forward and consoled, "Pitch, I am sorry this-"

He didn't have time to finish that thought. Pitch swung around and placed a solid black dagger dangerously close against the throat of the Guardian. His eyes a pure silver rage, he growled, "Don't. You. Dare. Pretend. To understand." As the other Guardians drew their weapons, prepared to fight to save their friend, Mother Nature put her hand up in a silent plea to do nothing yet.

She walked toward the two spirits and gently placed a hand on the King of Nightmare's shoulders. She said nothing, but when Pitch spun his head and saw her, he loosened his grip and lowered his dagger away from North.

"I should have followed my instinct," he muttered. Mother Nature quietly warned, "Pitch…" He jerked his shoulder free of her touch and continued, "How did you even _allow_ a bloody desert cloud to enter _anywhere_ in California or Nevada?! This is your fault that she's gone. Every last one of you. I NEVER should have trusted you!"

In a fit of rage he threw his dagger as far and hard as he could, puncturing straight through a cactus which resided several yards away. "This is my fault that he's out there. I should have finished the job all those millenia ago! Guardians' code of ethics be damned! I shouldn't have let this play out like some democracy! I should have stuck with my instinct about how to trap him, how to end him, and most importantly how to protect Amberlynn from this godforsaken mess of a creature! And all of your fears _screaming_ at me aren't helping anything either!"

Out of all the fears coming at him - fear of what was happening to Jack, whether Amberlynn was even alive (he loathed that fear the most), how would they defeat Lynx - one particular fear stuck out to him above the others. A fear he hasn't known _ever_ while on this Earth.

 _Help me, Daddy. I don't know what to do now. I'm frightened_. It was such a soft, quiet fear that Pitch _knew_ Mother Nature wasn't even aware her subconscious had this fear. It was one he was more than familiar with as the boogeyman, seeing many children - and even adults - trapped in a particular situation that they can't seem to get out of and all they want is for their parents to come and make everything better.

It was such a pure, raw, emotional fear that it was one of the most satisfying to prey on against mortals, but he has _never_ heard or felt such fear, such _need_ for a parent...and for that fear to be directed towards himself, coming from Mother Nature. His own daughter. His baby girl. The King of Nightmares part of him relished to know he could bring such fear to one of the elder spirits, but the paternal side of him for all intents and purposes temporarily kicked the darkness to the curb. He was no fool to think she would want any consolation from him - _especially_ lest he risk the Guardians finding out about their relationship - but his paternal instincts, something he never thought he'd feel again, screamed at him to make sure he had every intent of making things better again.

Rather than wrap her in a hug and never let her go, he settled for laying his hand against her shoulder and gently squeezing it in consolation, trying to let her know that everything's okay...even if nothing was.

But back to the matter at hand. How he longed to see his beloved's face again! He remembered after discovering her devious little secret, she took him with her to watch her magic in action. Her long, flaming red hair wrapped around one of her slender arms, her charcoal-grey eyes glowing with a pulse that matched the heat radiating from her hair, her freckly face scrunched up in devious concentration as she worked to cause a heat wave in Canada while she resided in Mexico...all for the sake of messing with Jack Frost. _Wait a minute, Black! That's it!_

"Amberlynn and Frost must be absolutely terrified right now!" Pitch said to no one in particular. Bunny snorted, "Oi, the King of Nightmares' astute sense of observation is absolutely astounding. What gave it away?"

"What I mean, _Rabbit_ ," he jibed back, "is that I can find where they are. Your fears are radiating _way too_ loudly for me, but I'm certain your current fears are _nowhere_ near as powerful as the fears either one of them must be facing right now. I can track them if I listen for their fears and, if I find them, I find Lynx…"

"And if we find Lynx, we can put an end to this madness once and for all," Mother Nature replied. Not one to make sure things haven't always been thought _completely_ through, Bunny countered, "Except for one small problem. There are over 7 _billion_ humans on this earth alone, not to mention the _thousands_ of major spirits _plus_ all the minor spirits and any of our little friends? How many _hundreds_ of tooth fairies does Tooth have alone? How exactly do you plan to filter through every last one of those fears?"

Pitch rolled his eyes at Bunny's skepticism. "I don't ask you how _or why_ you bribe children with eggs out of all possible gifts for Easter, so I don't expect you to ask me how or why I do my job. But the short answer I will give you is each person radiates fear differently, it's almost like a fingerprint. No two are exactly alike. So all I have to do is hone in on either Amberlynn or Frost's fears and I should be able to find them."

"And how do you know this will work?" Bunny challenged. "Yeah I caught that you said 'should work,' instead of 'will work.'" Pitch sent a glare Bunny's way, one that sent him just enough fear to twitch and lower his ears slightly in response. "Let's just say," Pitch replied, "that I know a spirit who has a similar skillset."


	21. Chapter 21

"Ugh my head!" Jack groaned. When he sat up and opened his eyes, he took note of the cage made out of pure ice that he was trapped in. It was barely large enough for him to adjust himself to either a kneeling, sitting, or fetal position, but not much else. He couldn't help it, but the sheer _beauty_ of the ice he was trapped in took his breath away!

Within each bar of ice in front of him, intricate patterns swirled in and around themselves, some of them having abstract, kaleidoscope-like shapes, while others formed more realistic images...a large majority of the non-abstract imagery being patterns of a particular feline.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" a voice from behind asked. Jack turned his head and finally understood why this spirit took to the name Lynx. His eyes, which were just a little too close together for a former-human-turned-spirit, also tilted upward and away from each other. His nose sat a little too low down his face and his ears had a slightly unnatural pointiness to them that he just couldn't _quite_ figure out if that truly was due to an uncanny act of nature or if he had somehow manipulated those himself. And the thick black and gray fur cloak he wore matched nearly identically to that of a lynx cat...that is if he skinned one that was three times the size of a normal one.

"I apologize for the unorthodox means of gaining your attention," Lynx said. "I must give Mother Nature credit. It was no small feat to find you in the middle of that desert, really quite genius on her part. And what a pity that you were without your staff, too. That gift from MiM was a truly remarkable work of craftsmanship." He shook his head in disappointment, almost mourning the fact Jack did not bring it with him...making the young winter spirit all the more glad he listened to North. Last thing he needed was this psycho gaining access to another weapon.

Lynx continued, "When everyone begins to feel cold they immediately cower away from it into little alcoves and hovels with fire and other sources of heat to melt it away. But nobody ever stays outside to admire the true beauty that the cold can bring. The intricate delicacies of nature that everyone is so quick to throw away. Even other spirits don't seem to get it. At least, they don't get it quite like you and I do. Isn't that right, Jack Frost?"

"How-how do you know my name? And how did you know about my staff?" Jack asked dubiously. Lynx shrugged. "It's truly not that difficult to figure out. You're the biggest winter spirit out there! Who _doesn't_ know your name? At least, until you're forgotten once again. Oh I don't mean that as an insult in the slightest! You and I, we are a lot more alike than Mother Nature would _ever_ let you think."

Jack quickly changed his mind about not having a weapon. He wished now more than ever that he had his staff. "We are nothing alike," he argued. Lynx raised an eyebrow. "Oh, no?" he asked. "As I tell you my story, stop at any time if you hear anything that sounds different from yours. Once upon a time, I was a human. Had a family I cared for, loved and devoted more than anything in the world. Then my demise came and I became a spirit, losing all connections with them forever. Roamed the world on my own for centuries, trying to figure out who or what I was, what my _purpose_ in life was, when I met my first spirit besides myself...Mother Nature. Well, I finally had a purpose again, a new family with Mother Nature and all the other spirits...but then they _turned_ on me because they didn't understand me."

As much as that stung Jack to think back to when he first became close with the Guardians, that tragic Easter morning when they all lost faith in him, the young winter spirit refused to take the bait. "You _murdered_ those spirits you called friends," he pointed out, but Lynx merely shook his head.

"Is that what they told you? No, Jack Frost, I never murdered anybody. Yes, seven of my old companions perished, but it was at the persistence of Pitch Black, Mother Nature, and Sanderson that they suffered. Why do you think it is that, out of ten spirits who were against me, only those three managed to survive?

"Was it because those three were somehow stronger than the other seven? Do they imply that they were superior to my seven comrades who fought honorably in a war? No, Jack Frost, I never murdered my friends. They were slain in a fair, honorable battle while those three cowered behind, simply _waiting_ for their next move while my seven comrades stepped up, ready for a full-frontal attack."

Jack scoffed in disbelief and muttered, "And why should I believe you? You don't know me and I don't know you."

"Perhaps you shouldn't," Lynx admitted. "At least, you shouldn't anymore than you'd believe the other three survivors. How well _do_ you know your comrades, know their stories? Do you know their stories as well as or even better than you know mine? What of their past have they opened up to you about?"

Before Jack responded, a rustling from the other side of...well, _wherever_ he was...alerted both of the winter spirits. Lynx clapped both hands together and cheered, "Oh wonderful! Our other guest has woken up once again."

A sickening feeling formed at the pit of Jack's stomach and he didn't want to turn around to see this other "guest," but something told him he already knew who it was. On the ice-covered ground, he saw a large pile of bright, fiery red hair lying limp and lifeless next to a dagger made completely of ice. Jack covered his mouth in shock as he tried to brace himself, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw next.

In a similarly structured cage as his own, Amberlynn remained huddled in an upright fetal position, trying to warm herself. Her hair had been roughly chopped off her head so that not a single strand of hair extended past her ears, which were no longer pale but rather a bright red color slowly starting to veer toward a purplish hue from the cold. Her lips already wore a blue tint and her pale face looked almost gray. While he noticed she wore winter clothing, she was soaking wet from head to toe, and the clothes only further trapped the cold that was seeping into her bones.

"Don't you see what you are doing to her?!" Jack screamed. "Let her go! You're killing her!" Lynx stopped in his tracks, inches from Amberlynn's cage, and turned to look at the Guardian of fun. "Don't you understand? She is a threat to us, our way of life. How can people appreciate the beauty that cold can bring if there is always _someone_ in our way melting everything in our path? I am merely eliminating an obstacle for us to live as we should be able to live."

"You're 'merely' crazy, is what you are!" Jack spat at Lynx. Lynx's cold, unfeeling smile quickly soured into a sneer. "Very well, Jack Frost," he muttered. "If you are not an ally, then you clearly are also an obstacle that must me eliminated as well. But your time will come soon enough. At the moment you're simply a thorn in my side now. But first, there is one thing I must do."

Lynx reached over the pile of hair to pick up his dagger. Once he successfully retrieved it, he reached into Amberlynn's cage and sliced her winter coat in half. He said to the summer spirit, "I'm sorry darling, but I'm afraid you won't be needing this any longer."

Without further ado, he tossed aside the dagger and with both hands on one piece of the coat, ripped the first half clean of Amberlynn's body. The thin layer of ice that had formed between her coat and next layer of clothing shattered as the coat was ripped off, sending a chill down Jack's spine at the immense pain that must have put Amberlynn through, but she only grimaced rather than screamed. After flinging that piece of the coat to the ground, he walked around to the other side of the cage and did the exact same thing. This time a low, icy, guttural scream erupted out of her throat. Her lips, which Jack did not realize were all but frozen shut together, cracked as she opened her mouth and drops of blood began dripping from the corners but almost immediately froze before they barely reached her chin.

"Huh, so your vocal chords do still work," Lynx muttered, sounding disappointed. Turning his attention to Jack, he explained, "This young woman has quite the mouth on her, did you know that? Beautiful voice, really, but I could not listen to such foul language coming from such a pretty face, whether it was in English _or_ in Welsh. The cursing sounds almost more offensive in Welsh, don't you think Jack Frost? Or did you never bother to learn the mother tongue of your 'friend' over here?" That time Jack actually lowered his head in shame for, no, he never bothered to learn any language other than English.

Sensing this, Lynx continued, "It's truly quite a pity on your part, then. The poor lass has just about lost all ability to speak her second language. Did you know that was possible? Many multilingual folks will have a 'brain fart,' as the mortals say, and they won't be able for the life of them to remember particular words in whatever language they did not grow up knowing. I'm afraid poor Amberlynn Sommers, here, has far reached that point and has only spoken to me for the last couple hours in Welsh...that is, until her foul mouth became a problem for me and I needed to temporarily silence her."

 _A couple hours?!_ Jack thought, horrified. _How long has Amberlynn been trapped here?_ He muttered, "You sick, twisted, sociopathic son of a bitch when I get out of here-"

"You know, if my namesake were after a canine species rather than feline, I wouldn't _completely_ argue with you on that point-" Lynx interrupted. "As for you getting out, well I wouldn't recommend that for your comrade's sake. Take a closer look at the setup of her new home and I'm sure you'll see why."

As Jack peered out to look around her cage, he saw that the two were connected by a pulley system of some sort. Below Amberlynn's cage remained a hole large enough for her cage to fall through should Jack try to escape.

"Aren't you interested to learn what lies at the bottom of that hole?" Lynx asked. Without waiting for a reply he answered, "It is what remains at the bottom of your cage, also. Humans think they have figured out this magical number, called absolute zero, that determines when all molecular movement will cease. Well, as the spirit who controls all forms of liquid, I can _assure_ you that number is absolutely not the case.

"This water, which resides beneath you two, I have manipulated to fall 100 degrees centigrade _below_ that of the hypothesized absolute zero. Have you ever felt 'absolute zero,' Jack Frost? No spirit on this earth would be able to survive it. Both of you can escape this prison quite easily, really. But neither one of you would while the other is incapacitated _because_ of the fate that awaits the one who was not so fortunate to escape in time. That is why your friend has allowed herself to remain captive for as long as she has, because you were _not_ easy to wake up."

"You made one fatal flaw in this plan," a deep voice growled. "You successfully pissed me off."


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey guys, here's Chapter 22 up and running! As always, I do not own ROTG, just my OCs**

Without a further sound, the King of Nightmares thrust a full force of nightmare sand and shadows upon Lynx, shooting him back against the nearest wall and binding him from moving even an inch.

"Is it a flaw if my plan was to have you come here, Pitch?" Lynx asked. "You know I must admit there was a slight flaw in it. I fully intended this -" he nodded his head toward the cage that contained Jack - "to be Mother Nature when you came. To have my most hated enemy stand before me as I single-handedly kill both his daughter _and_ the love of his life? Oh that would have been the most perfect ending!"

 _Wait, Pitch has a daughter?_ Jack wondered. _And his daughter is Mother Nature?! Okay that I did_ not _see coming_!

Pitch glared at Jack and warned, "You mention one word of this revelation to the other Guardians and I'll personally kill you before Lynx has the chance to do so." Jack raised his hands and replied, "Trust me that's the _least_ of my concerns right now. Your secret's not going anywhere. Where are the others?"

"A little bit tied up at the moment," Pitch admitted. "Nothing is faster than shadow travel and I don't have the time to wait for them."

"Pitch, listen to me," Jack said. "I've been trying to undo _anything_ of Lynx's to try to even out the playing field while he's been monologuing, but nothing's working. His wintry powers are too powerful and he has mine and Amberlynn's cages hooked together in a pulley system above some demented Lynx-special freezing water that even I wouldn't survive. If I fly out, Amberlynn falls in and dies before I can catch her. If Lynx does anything to break the chains…"

Pitch nodded in understanding. He didn't need Jack to vocally finish that sentence, because his radiating fears finished it for him the second he saw Pitch. He looked over to the cage where Amberlynn was and looked back at Lynx, with pure silver rage in his eyes.

"Were _these eyes_ the true silver rage of the Nightmare King you wanted to see?" Pitch challenged Lynx. Keeping one hand to maintain control of the nightmare sand and shadows that restrained the old winter spirit, he raised the opposite hand and hurled a wave of nightmare sand...at Amberlynn?

"Um Pitch," Jack muttered. "I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job or anything, but I think you missed." Pitch shot a death glare in the younger winter spirit's direction and Jack quickly closed his mouth. All three conscious spirits looked in the direction of where Pitch sent the nightmare sand. It completely enveloped Amberlynn like a blanket and was helping to keep her warm, but the natural darkness of the nightmare sand was also fighting to put out her light before the cold does.

Still maintaining his control of Lynx's current prison, Pitch approached Amberlynn's cage and opened the door so he could reach his hand in to grab one of hers. Ignoring the shooting pain of ice that her hands were, he said to her, "Amberlynn, my love, I know you can fight this. You have to fight the darkness. Fight it for yourself, for me, for all your friends. Fight it like the first time we skirmished in Australia, my love, when I first sent darkness your way.

"I know it's hard to not be afraid right now, but remember that moment in Australia when you were completely fearless despite the shadows I sent upon you. Remember those words you said to me that night. _You_ are my little light in the darkness...and the darkness has not overcome it."

While she still remained motionless, Pitch slowly raised her hand to his lips, gently kissing the top of her freezing hand before setting it back inside the nightmare-sand blanket for warmth. "Os gwelwch yn dda aros gyda mi," he whispered, remembering when he was practically comatose and she muttered those same words into his ear as she healed him.

All three spirits held their breath in anticipation for what came next. From under the bundle of the blanket that was Amberlynn, they heard and saw her take a large gasp of air before returning to normal but shallow breathing. Lynx, still trapped in Pitch's nightmare sand and shadows, yawned and said, "Well that was a lot more anticlimactic than I expected. But congratulations, Black. You gave your pet just a few more gruesome moments before certain death."

Pitch tightened the reins on Lynx, further constricting him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't let the darkness swallow you whole," he growled. Lynx retorted, "Because you already tried that, and guess what? It didn't work. You really should have taken me up on my offer all those centuries ago. And you _really_ shouldn't have sent your Nightmares upon me. Let's face it, Pitch. You can't kill me anymore than I can kill you. But you know what I can do? I can kill the love of your life and make you spend an eternal hell with me after I destroy the Guardians, knowing there is nothing you can do about it."

Lynx couldn't quite understand how or why, but he noticed drops of sweat fall from his face. He'd have ripped off the hood of his cloak if he weren't so restrained, so he settled for shifting uncomfortably as he was bound by his restraints.

While a look of horror set upon the young winter spirit's face at realization of what was occurring, a sly smirk fell upon Pitch's lips. "And you shouldn't monologue so much," he said. "Take it from someone whose worst enemy literally came back from the dead. Don't count your victories until they're actually achieved."

Pitch, Lynx, and Jack all looked over to the ice cage where Amberlynn still resided, to see a golden-red aura radiating from underneath the blanket of nightmare sand.

"No...that's-that's _impossible!_ " Lynx screamed. He was sweating profusely and was confident by this point, that the only thing physically keeping him upright were the restraints Pitch still had on him. Amberlynn's head slowly lifted up to face her kidnapper.

Her lips, which were still tinted blue and stained from blood, curled into a snarl and though she was visibly shaking from the cold, what little hair she had left on her head glowed with an immense shade of red and her charcoal-ember eyes radiated from pure power and hatred.

Pitch had not felt so much fear coming from two opposing parties simultaneously in such a long time. Though he refused to move from his position, he silently pleaded with Amberlynn. _I know what you want to do, and I want to do it, too. But this isn't you. Don't let the darkness take the light_ or _the goodness from you, love. You can beat him, but do it how Amberlynn Sommers would do it, not how I or Lynx would do it._

After a brief moment, Amberlynn's body ceased to glow. She shook her head and, pulling the blanket tighter around her, muttered in her croaked voice, "N-n-no, not-not li...not like...not like this." Lynx's sweating immediately ceased and, for some reason, his restraints also loosened. But he wasn't about to show the others the newfound ace up his sleeve.

"Pathetic," Lynx taunted. "You almost had me think for a minute that you even _could_ kill me, too. That fancy gift of your lover's might give you a few more minutes, but not much else. Word on the street is your knowledge of anatomy sped up Black's healing after a duel with the Guardians, yes? Well here's a lesson for you: let us learn _together_ what ice does when run right through a spirit's heart."

He immediately broke off a large chunk of ice he grew during his speech. Taking advantage of the loose restraints, he broke free of them and charged after Frost, a spirit he _knew_ he'd have no problems killing. Reaching out her hand beyond the prison bars, Amberlynn screeched, "NO!"

She grabbed hold of Lynx's arm that held the stalagmite, and clung as if her life depended on it. The ancient spirit dropped the weapon, which shattered into a million tiny shards of ice, and writhed in agony. Beneath Amberlynn's hand, steam rose from Lynx's cloak.

He tried to shed the garment from his shoulder to lose the summer spirit's grip, but he realized the fabric from it literally melted onto his skin. He continued his blood-curdling screams, which prompted both Pitch and Jack to cover their ears from the harsh sound. After what felt like an eternity, a sudden silence filled the room, followed by a soft thud, and they both turned to see a lifeless Lynx on the ground between Amberlynn's and Jack's cages.

* * *

Pitch couldn't believe it. After millennia of regret, hatred, but also in some twisted way friendship, Amberlynn was finally able to do what spirits several millennia her senior could not. She finally put an end to Lynx before he could cause destruction anywhere else.

Not one to forget who helped Amberlynn what seemed like a lifetime ago, Pitch quickly evaluated the situation for the two trapped spirits regarding the hole underneath their cages. He told them, "It looks like whatever Lynx was doing to the water beforehand is over with now. There appears to be solid ice underneath you both, but I'm not taking that chance."

He walked over to Amberlynn and, grabbing hold of one of her hands, looked over to Jack and instructed, "On the count of three, I will pull her out and you fly out. One, two, THREE!" In perfect unison Jack flew out of his cage at the same time Pitch pulled Amberlynn into his arms...and at the same time the remaining Guardians, along with Mother Nature, burst their way into the cavern Lynx had the two younger spirits trapped in.

"We came to - oh Amberlynn, you poor thing!" Tooth exclaimed. She flew over to try to fuss over her, but Jack quickly steered her away, much to Pitch's silent gratitude. Jack instructed the others, "I will fill you in on everything -" he sent pitch a look of understanding, one that said, _everything except that one piece of revelatory information I had no business learning_ \- "that occurred here, but right now we need to get Amberlynn out of here."

"He's right," Pitch agreed. Turning to North, he continued, "Amberlynn instructed me on _exactly_ how to treat anyone who should be hurt by Lynx - in this case it's very clearly just her who needs treatment - but she made it explicitly clear that she requires the _least_ excessive movements necessary to get her to where she needs to go. Apparently shadow travel is too jarring and I am in need of one of your snowglobes."

Before North could react, Jack immediately grabbed a snowglobe out of the sleigh and asked Pitch (since he knew the boogeyman would have no clue how to operate the snowglobe), "Where is your destination?"

Pitch replied, "My lair, but I will settle for the meadow in Burgess by its entrance. It's the easiest entrance to get her somewhere safe and warm for healing." Without further ado, Jack whispered the destination into the snowglobe before throwing it, opening up the portal that Pitch took himself and Amberlynn through, disappearing without a trace.

 **Os gwelwch yn dda aros gyda mi-Please stay with me**


	23. Chapter 23

Amberlynn's head began to throb, so she reached both hands up toward her head, only to find a scratchy, woolen blanket on top of it. _He remembered,_ she thought with a smile but quickly frowned. _But that must mean...oh great. My nightmare wasn't a nightmare at all, was it?_

The slightly cooler feeling against her arms also further reminded her of her clear instructions to Pitch. She wasn't complaining, though, because by the weight of the blankets on top of her, she knew Pitch made sure to stack only the warmest, heaviest blankets on top of her naked, hypothermic body.

She turned her head to see Pitch in a position she was confident Pitch saw her in when they had swapped roles...all because back then he'd rather cause a rampage to get his butt kicked by the Guardians over admitting any romantic feelings toward her. The thought of that time which seemed so long ago made her chuckle, alerting Pitch of her conscious state.

His head popped up from its pseudo-conscious daze and he immediately jumped out of the chaise that remained next to the bed she was in, setting himself next to her. Placing the back of his hand against her cheek, he softly smiled and said, "Well, you're _finally_ warmer than I once again. How do you feel, love?"

"A little bit - why does my voice sound like this?" she asked, annoyed that her voice squeaked. Pitch shrugged and answered, "The exact details of that don't matter right now. I will fill you in on _everything_ that you've been through when you are fully rested and healed. But for what it's worth you do sound remarkably better than the last time I heard your voice."

Amberlynn almost didn't want to, but regardless, asked, "And...when exactly what the last time you heard that?"

"About five weeks ago," he admitted. _When you were still in that godforsaken ice cage_ he thought, but did not dare say aloud yet. "I've prepared some tea for you, love. I wasn't sure myself what would be best for when you finally fully regained consciousness, but Mother Nature provided a collection of the best healing herbals. It's not too terribly hot, but it should be enough to help warm you up from the inside."

After Amberlynn let Pitch prop her head up a bit, she brought her pale arms back out from under the covers long enough to take a drink of the calm, warm, soothing tea. While she knew the hoarseness would still take time to go away, the dry, cracked feeling in her throat was immensely relieved. "To answer your last question, I feel much better after that," she admitted, "thank you, Pitch. Although, you wouldn't happen to have some fresh clothes for me, would you?"

Pitch brought a stack of clothes over to the edge of the bed and said, "I wasn't sure what you would want, so I had Onyx and Amadeus retrieve everything of yours those fillies could bring back. Are you okay that you should be getting up on your own?"

"I'm stiff and sore, obviously," she lightly chuckled, "but I think I can handle changing into some sweats and a shirt on my own. Now, if ye don't mind giving me a minute?" He lightly kissed the top of her head and replied, "Of course, my love," before walking out of his bedchambers, closing the door behind him.

Amberlynn carefully took each blanket and comforter off her lap, quietly wincing with each sudden movement of her joints. The hypothermia clearly long gone, she knew she would need further self-evaluation at some point to decide the extent of the damage she incurred at her prison. But for now she settled on just a quick once-over.

Putting forth a little extra concentration, and some slight hesitation, she balled her hand into a fist before opening it, emitting a baseball-sized flame. _Just like riding a bike_ , she thought to herself. She slowly enlarged the fire until it was large enough that she could get a better view of her battered body...and _boy_ did she almost immediately regret that.

While the worst of her bruises had begun to fade, there wasn't a single limb on her that _wasn't_ covered in various shades of purple, red, and brown. Though she couldn't see it, she gently brushed her fingers against her back, _vividly_ remembering how Lynx had ripped her frozen coat off her back. She lightly yelped, but quickly covered her mouth to not alert Pitch and have him come barging in here full of worry. Not to her surprise, the wounds she felt were still warm and slightly raw, which she had to remind herself that spirits do heal slower than most mortals appeared to.

Somewhat satisfied that she at least had an idea of what other challenges lie ahead for her, she threw on a pair of sweatpants before grabbing a loose-fitting shirt. As she threw the shirt over her head, she couldn't believe how she didn't realize or remember it before. She reached both hands to the top of her head, grabbing small tufts of what little hair was left on her head.

She knew it was silly to feel such a loss, after all it was only hair. But that didn't stop tears from rolling down her face, the saltwater stinging what few open wounds had yet to heal.

With scary-precise timing, Pitch ran through the door to see his beloved curled up with one arm squeezing her knees as closely to her chest as possible. The other was raised up to her head as her free hand ran through her hair. Any other person, mortal or otherwise, would not have noticed, but the King of Nightmare's keen sense of vision, especially in the dark, did not overlook the red, tear-stained streaks running down Amberlynn's face as her body lightly shook. He knew, however, that this time the shaking was not from hypothermia.

Pitch walked over to Amberlynn, who had not yet registered his presence, and gently knelt down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jolt back to reality. After registering for a moment who was beside her, she flung her arms around him and sobbed, "I'm sorry, Pitch. I can't - I can't get them out of my head! My fears must be screamin' at ye like a bloody banshee right about now."

"You certainly had the Nightmares agitated tonight, that's for sure," Pitch admitted with a casual shrug as she sent dagger eyes his direction. "Don't worry, love, I sent them halfway across the continent for tonight. You've been through enough, the _last_ thing you need is their constant presence."

Pitch gently scooped the summer spirit into his arms and carried her back to the bed, where he grabbed hold of one of the heavy wool blankets, and wrapped it around Amberlynn's shoulders. Without saying another word, he lied down beside her, protectively wrapping his arms around her as she let her head rest on his chest.

Unsure of where to even _begin_ to talk to Pitch about everything, she stammered, "Do ye...do ye remember the very first time Mother Nature ordered me to set that forest in Australia ablaze? Do ye remember the fears I had and how they became reality for me that night?"

Pitch didn't verbally respond, but wrapped his arms more tightly around Amberlynn and kissed the top of her head. Amberlynn continued, "The worst part about this entire thing is, not even my _wildest_ fears imagined me being capable of what I just did to him." Pitch didn't need clarification for who the "him" was that Amberlynn meant.

New tears formed in the summer spirit's eyes as she choked, "I never meant...I _killed_ a man, Pitch! I wasn't even aiming fer him...I was trying to melt the icicle he...the ice he intended to use to hurt Jack."

"Shh, my love," Pitch cooed. Sensing her current fear, he reassured her, "You are _not_ a killer, Amberlynn Sommers." He slowly sat both of them upright as he cupped her face and turned it to face him. "You said it yourself, love. You were aiming for the ice, _not_ him! You're a hero! What I don't understand is, how were you able to defeat him when he had cut your hair?"

Amberlynn shrugged before wrapping herself back in Pitch's embrace. "Lynx didn't understand either me or my powers. He thought cutting my hair would rid me of them - almost like a Samson and Delilah story - except for the fact that it isn't the source of my powers, my powers are all internal. I simply use my hair to better direct and control _where_ I want the heat to radiate. Unfortunately, that power was used to take away the life of another spirit."

"Except it was for defense," Pitch gently countered. "It's the cost of war...a war that _he_ very well started, no less." Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he switched gears and said, "Tell me this, love. You had a chance to end him before, when he was still bound by my shadows. You _very_ _easily_ could have just finished him off then and there. Why did you choose to not act until Frost's life was at stake?"

Slightly taken aback, Amberlynn replied, "Why wouldn't I? You said it yourself, Jack's life was at stake. I couldn't very well let Lynx take him away - not from his friends, the Guardians, his fellow seasonal spirits. We're a family...a messed-up _dysfunctional_ family, albeit, but a family nonetheless. I wasn't about to let him take _yet another_ spirit from this world."

"Does that sound like what a killer would say?" Pitch asked. "Take it from somebody who has made _several_ selfish choices in his millennia of existence...and one of those _very much so_ being the ending of another life. You are no killer, Amberlynn Sommers. You bring people together, you _heal_ people."

To further prove his point, Pitch raised his tunic to show Amberlynn the scar which remained after his battle against the Guardians. Any hint of inflammation and swelling gone, all that remained was a fine line that took up a few inches of his abdomen. He continued, "You are the reason this healed as cleanly and rapidly as it did. You are the most selfless spirit I have ever known, Amberlynn Sommers, and I love you more than anything in the world for it. We will get through this together. I'm with you until the end, love."

Amberlynn wrapped her arms around Pitch's neck, ignoring the fire spreading through her joints, and pulled him into a kiss. Surprised, but eagerly receptive, Pitch wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her as close to him as their bodies would physically allow.

 _What did I ever do to deserve you?_ the summer spirit thought with a smile. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Pitch Black," she whispered. "Marry me."

Both spirits froze, equally shocked that those words left Amberlynn's mouth. Pitch separated himself from her and asked, "What did you say?" Slightly hesitant, Amberlynn sat up straighter and replied, "When have you ever known me to follow the traditional route? Will you - will you marry me, Pitch Black?"

Pitch's grin spread from ear to ear, but he did not respond right away. Instead, he walked to the door to his bedchambers and sent out a piercing whistle into the hall for Onyx to dutifully show up. After retrieving a box from his Nightmare, he walked back to Amberlynn and sat next to her.

Fumbling with the small, black, velvet box, he chuckled, "I always knew you to be untraditional, but I also should have known you for the impatient spirit that you are. I...I was trying to find the right time, but it turns out you beat me to it."

Kneeling down on the ground, he held out the box and said, "Of course I will marry you, love! Would you mind if an old-fashioned spirit such as myself ask you the same?" Amberlynn's eyes were flowing with tears, but the wide smile on her face that she was hiding with her hands over her mouth let Pitch know these were joyful tears. He opened the box to reveal a silver ring with an oval, ruby gemstone in the center, surrounded by black diamonds.

"Amberlynn Sommers, would you do me the honors of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?" Pitch asked. Despite the obvious fact that he _already_ knew the answer ( _Amberlynn did_ _ask you first after all, you old fool_ , he thought to himself), Pitch could not help but tremble as he held the ring in his hand. Amberlynn, who still could not stop crying, held out her left hand to him and replied, "Yes! Yes, I'll marry you!"


	24. Epilogue (20 Years Later)

"Morgan Black you're dead!" A young, freckle-faced spirit with jet black hair and hazel eyes searched every inch of the Amazon, hunting down his older sister. "You can't hide in the shadows forever, Morg!" Without another word, he lit several fireballs and shot them toward all areas that were shaded, obliterating any and all shadows within his line of site. With a sly smile, he muttered, "Bingo," before mounting his Nightmare and charging at his target.

Before the auburn-haired girl with grey eyes had the chance to shadow-travel again with her Nightmare, she was pinned down by her brother, who then surrounded them both by a wall of fire. After noticing _both_ of their Nightmares were effectively scared away by the flames, she kicked her brother off of her and shouted, "Nice going, Cayden! You do know you've _officially_ alerted Mom and Dad thanks to you scaring off Brutus and Stella. And get these flames away from me if you want a fair fight!"

"Yeah right," Cayden countered. "Just so you can shadow travel _again_ and have your boyfriend protect you because you _know_ I'm a better fighter than you? I don't think so!"

"How did you know about -" Morgan started, but was interrupted by a sudden disappearance of the flames. _Oh great, we're in for it_ she groaned internally.

"How did Cayden know about what?" Amberlynn asked. Dismounting from Onyx, she approached her children and crossed her arms impatiently. "More importantly, why are you two going at each other's throats _this time_?"

"And why did Brutus and Stella come back to the lair _without_ you two?" Pitch asked, coming up from the opposite side of his kids holding the reins on their Nightmares. Amberlynn laughed and said, "That's because there was a wall of fire not too long before you returned, annwyl. How many times do I have to tell you yer Nightmares are a bunch of llwfrgi. But back to the matter. Cayden and Morgan, how many times do we have to stop you guys from fighting each other?"

"I swear I'm the victim," Cayden protested, "...this time. Morgan had the _brilliant idea_ to send Aphrodite's daughter, Vanessa, a love letter with _my name_ on it! It was disgustingly mushy and sappy and I'm gonna kill her!"

"Easy there, tiger," Pitch said, wrapping a nightmare-sand lasso around his son and yanking him backwards toward the King of Nightmares. "Save your energy for later today, when you're on assignment with Mother Nature. She has a cold front she needs you to keep from hitting the Midwest."

"And take your coat with you!" Amberlynn called as Cayden walked off. Cayden groaned, "Mom, I don't actually _need_ a coat to stay warm, you _do_ know that right?" Placing her hands on her hips, Amberlynn retorted, "Be that as it may, it's still supposed to be a nasty one. You're taking care of this cold front for me, do this one little extra thing for me as well." He turned to his father for help, but Pitch merely held out the black nightmare-sand jacket he created for his son and whispered, "Do us both a favor and don't let that redheaded temper of hers get to you...because I'll be collateral damage in the process."

"I heard that!" Amberlynn shouted in protest, to which Pitch laughed and asked, "And where is the lie, my love?" Cayden stormed off with the jacket, muttering something about "old people love" and "my poor ears," causing Pitch to shake his head and chuckle. He frowned for a moment and turned to his daughter.

"As for you, young lady," he said, "You can wait for me back at home in the globe room because _we_ have an assignment as well. You still have much to learn about shadow-travel, and you can start by placing Brutus and Stella back in their stalls."

Morgan slowly walked up to her father and took both reins from his hand. "When are you going to teach me how to fight with nightmare sand and how to create whips, lassos, and scythes with it?" He looked toward Amberlynn and, with a slight smirk, answered, "During the exact same lesson that your mother teaches Cayden how to _disintegrate_ said weaponry with fire. Equal opportunity lessons, Morgan."

"Ugh, you and Mom's 'equal opportunity' crap!" she groaned as she stepped into a shadow, taking the Nightmares back to the lair with her. Amberlynn approached Pitch and wrapped her arms around him into a hug. "I almost feel bad for her," she said, "but she has to learn to use that devious cunning she inherited from her father so she can think two steps ahead of her brother rather than use brute force."

"As much as I'd love to take complete credit for our children's deviousness," Pitch countered, "Who is it that has now messed with the last _...three_ Winter Olympics and warmed up each of their regions?" The summer spirit looked at her husband and giggled. "You're absolutely right," she admitted before kissing him.

The duo stood contentedly holding each other until Pitch muttered, "I'm gonna kill him." Confused and slightly taken aback, Amberlynn asked, "Who, Cayden?" He chuckled and replied, "No, not Cayden! Frost."

This time it was Amberlynn's turn to laugh. "Okay now you'll have to be more specific on which one: the one who's dating our daughter or his father?"

"Would it be a bad thing if I said both?" he teased, to which the summer spirit playfully slapped his arm. She pointed out, "I don't think Toothiana would be too thrilled if ye took out either Jack or Owen. For what it's worth, I spoke to Tooth earlier this week and Owen hasn't told either her _or_ Jack about him and Morgan dating, either."

Amberlynn never thought she'd see the day it actually happened, but ever since Toothiana became a mother, she truly has mellowed out. Sure, she's still squeaky and chirpy, but her overall need to _smother_ people has finally toned down. Amberlynn is even proud to call her a friend.

"Huh," she muttered. Pitch looked at her and asked, "What is it?" She shrugged and, with a devious smirk on her face, replied, "I was just thinking. Neither you, Jack, Tooth, nor I have received any open, honest dialogue with our children about them seeing each other since...how long ago was it when we found out about their involvement? You're not happy that Morgan's been hiding this, I'm not happy she's been hiding this, and I'm _certain_ neither Tooth nor Jack are happy about Owen hiding this. What do you say we do one more alliance with two of the Guardians, just for the sake of messing with our children?"

"I say," Pitch replied with a wide smile, "that I defer _all_ responsibility of our children's devious behavior to you, now. And I love you for it!" He summoned Onyx to come forward, and they both mounted the mare before heading to the Tooth Palace.

On the ride to Asia, Amberlynn hugged Pitch tightly, her smile never leaving her face. She looked on toward the rising sun thoughtfully and fondly recalled what the Sun said to her all those years ago when she was first granted her restored memories: to help guide her to find what she may gain. _Thank you for giving me this second chance at life. Thank you for the memories of my past life, and for all that I have gained as a spirit. I shall never forget what you have done for me_. She brought her focus back to her husband, kissed his cheek, and laughed with childlike delight - gathering all her fiery red hair together to keep it from whipping around with the wind - as Onyx quickly dove toward the Earth in preparation to begin shadow travel.

She had never before imagined that her life would turn out like this: a devoted husband, two incredible children, a closer friendship with the Guardians than she ever thought possible, even her improved relationship (she'd _almost_ even dare say friendship) with Mother Nature. As crazy and dysfunctional as it all may be, this was her new normal. Amberlynn, a daughter of the Sun, married to the King of Nightmares, with children who possess varying versions of powers of night and day. Not in her wildest dreams could she have imagined such a life, and she wouldn't want it any other way!

 **Annwyl-dear**

 **llwfrgi-cowards**

 **Ahhhh I almost didn't want to post this epilogue, because that meant I'd be finished with this story! Thank you soooo much to all my readers out there, you guys seriously are the best! I hope you enjoyed this crazy rollercoaster of a ride as much as I did. Not sure what or when my next project will be, but seriously, thank you for coming along with me on this adventure.**


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